Katzundyarner Bits

A new knitting target

2012-01-08T14:13:00.004-06:00

My husband is averse to everything handmade - the supplies, my time and attention, the clutter mid-project. That is an interesting characteristic considering the economics of our early, middle and latest married life. One of his many rules (always eat breakfast; get in a work-out every day; never exceed the speed limit; diet Coke is a staple) is that he prefers not to wear knitwear because he gets too hot. Just go with this sketch - don't try to argue counter-point.

So imagine my surprise when he suggested he needed a scarf. He is still deeply resentful of the Christmas stocking I made him a couple years ago (how else can a knitting wife shower such a dear one with love?). I have a feeling he was put-out by the knitting I was knocking back for the church sale - or again, just go with it. This is what I made:

Mission Falls 1824 (washable), sadly discontinued by a yarn company out of business, bought at a now-shuttered LYS (an additional irony is that he accompanied me to the sidewalk sale where I bought this yarn; I'm sure the 60% discount appealed to him). Knit lengthwise over 200 stitches, long enough for him but not the requisite length for the au couture loop at the neck. Maybe one color too wide.

He has already worn the scarf during the cold snap that hit Chicago last week. It's safely in the closet until the temperature drops to 20 degrees again.

One of my rules is strike while the iron's hot so today I suggested he might like some handknit socks. Apparently they would be too thick for his shoes. I'll try again later.

Knitting 2012

2011-12-31T11:55:00.003-06:00

I think the smart knitter uses the holiday knitting magazines to plan, not to catch up. I spent the evening looking through Interweave Knits Holiday 2010 last night and am enraptured with a couple projects. I am making plans - for me or for others depends on who appears to be knit-worthy.

The Blooming Stole

Ingenious! I have discovered I am not kept interested in rectangular shawls for the duration. It's just the same thing over and over again; getting to 60" takes the stamina of a marathon runner. This shawl, however, has an interesting middle - call it a medallion - that is knit in the round, increasing alternate rows. You start with one stitch and finish with 72 stitches in each of the four sections. Then you work the side panels. The side panels could be tedious but I reflect back to making sleeves. Just when you can't take it any longer, you are done and then you only have one more piece to complete the project. We will see.

Fleur de lis and caernog pin cushions

I don't need a pin cushion and I can think of only one other person who might be interested in a pin cushion but when does a gift have to fill a need? Pretty! Little! Colorwork! These would be lady-like gifts that get finished while we are still having fun. I even have some roving to use as stuffing.

Fruit basket hats

When we went through the great baby boom of 2011, we talked about these hats a lot in our Wed knitting group but I didn't have a pattern in any of my baby knitting books. It was a secret pattern available on a need-to-know basis. But turns out I have the pattern! And I think the fruit depends on the color of the yarn so I don't feel restricted to watermelon or strawberry (I think the pineapple hat is just taking advantage of the baby not having any muscle control, i.e., can't take the hat off).

Short-row flowers

Another wonder of our Wed knitting group but I'm too lazy to get that book from the library (the Wed knitters know which book). I can make posies -

I can't call this a queue or a resolution because that implies chores and commitment but I hope to take a stab at these projects this year. Maybe my resolution should be to figure out how to borrow pictures from other websites.

The forgotten ornament

2011-12-29T17:36:00.004-06:00

Like when you have finished stowing away the Christmas decorations for another year, all the boxes neatly fitting inside each other and like a 3-D puzzle, snug against each other in the closet, you turn around and discover Santa and the reindeer on the bookshelf, I realize I forgot to show you one of my knitted creations.

The Snowman from Mini Christmas Knits by Sue Stratford:

Baby Ull, assorted sock yarn with some Jamieson Jumper weight for eyes and buttons. Size 4 dpn.

What an annoying tedious knit but the product is so gosh-darned cute! I might be able to manage one each year. The tip I got from Elizabeth, when I did a show-n-tell at Knot Just Knits where I bought the book, was to use a hacky sack or bean bag for stuffing the bottom which adds the necessary ballast to keep the snowman from tilting. If it didn't mean more sewing-up, I would open up this guy and fix that problem pronto! One modification I made to the pattern was to knit the two balls as linked balls (a la the ornament: co, increase, knit, decrease; increase, knit, decrease; co) instead of knitting the body flat which would require even more assembly. I used a running stitch in the same yarn to secure the hat and scarf.

Santa and the reindeer now live on the bookshelf.

Edited to add: I have also discovered the welcome mat decorated with presents outside the front door and the solar Christmas lights on the deck to be put away. !!

Still with the knitting

2011-12-27T18:51:00.006-06:00

I have a backlog of knitting to finish. News about the reduced economy, hungry children, abandoned pets in foreclosed houses have made me feel very guilty about the abundance of yarn and numerous UFOs that need attention.

But first I started and finished new projects:

From Knit Your Own Dog, a mini Rogie for my boss:

Mini Rogie needs a blue harness collar and a red leash to match Real Rogie.

Knitting fans all over ask for their own knitted objects, though they are unwilling to learn to knit and make their own knitted objects. I spent 1/2 hour of my free time on each of my staff and made everyone an ornament (from Handknit Holidays):

The ornament in these pictures is made from Palette on size 2 dpns and is only about 3-4" in circumference - the 2009 Franklin Habit ornament provides scale; the staff gifts were of Baby Ull, a bit more than 5" in circumference, made on size 4 dpns. If I were to calculate each half-hour at my salary rate, my staff got a very nice present indeed but value-added for me was using up stash yarn and whittling away at that bag of a lifetime's supply of polyester fiberfill.

Here is the prototype for a gift I made for DD#2.

Sailor's Rib Fingerless Mitts, free pattern from Mountain Colors. I made these mitts from the yarn remains of other projects. The green is from Solitude in their early days at the DuPont Farmers Market (Washington, DC - I miss going to SfN~!) and the brown is handspun by Vera Videnovich, which I bought at YarnCon #1 (Chicago).

Imagine my surprise when DD#2 pulled out a pair of fingerless mitts I made some time in the past. Those were made out of Brown Sheep Wildfoote - I knew I made something out of that yarn but just couldn't remember what. I need to get a picture for my Ravelry page (largesse from donation made to a friend's knitting club).

I also don't have pictures of DD#2 gifts - I managed to use up the colorful parts of two skeins of Noro Kureyon for her mitts (greens and midnight blues) and some orange Lobster Pot cashmere (Brooklyn General Store) with some purple, unmarked (probably bulky Malabrigo from Nana's Knits). Amazingly, she was pleased with both presents and has texted to let me know she is wearing them. Gotta get a picture of that as well!

A knitting travelogue

2011-11-27T14:54:00.012-06:00

Knit knit knit
Knit knit knit
Knit knit knit

All I want to do is knit. Forget the dishes, shopping, cooking. I'll still sleep, bathe, and scoop the cat boxes. But once the essentials are addressed, just let me knit. I'm not so far gone that I want to knit while walking but I admit that I walk to work listening to the KnitPicks podcast, walk home listening to the KnitPicks podcast. I occasionally work out listening to the KnitPicks podcast.

I meant to catch you up on my summer:

After the Midwest Fiber Festival, I went to Boston for work where I watched a peculiar rush hour. My first picture had a bad glare from the window but trust me, the Charles River was clogged with little sailboats heading away from the city at the end of the work day.

I can't remember what I knit in Boston. I was happy to have my little knit scarves though because the air conditioning worked extremely well.

I endured until I got ready to go to Minneapolis for the Knit and Crochet Show. Far away, overnight, destination knitting. Megabus, $36 round trip. DH went farther north for a solo hike in 95-degree weather. I stayed with my BFF April at the Minneapolis Hyatt and helped celebrate her DD#1 16th birthday. We met Penny Sitler:

I took classes on entrelac (Gwen Bortner) and double-knitting (Melissa Leapman) - wonderful teachers, great pace, very interesting techniques. Did a little shopping

(Woodland Path shawl, Ivy Brambles - picture this in a red)

In these close confines, April infected me with her shawl fever. I cast-on in the hotel room, knit away on the bus, then finished this

Souvenir cashmere yarn from Lakeside Fibers in Madison, WI that I have hoarded since 2008. April copied a pattern from her library book but I bought the book by Martha Waterman - Fishtail Half-circle shawl. I was on vacation, I had money to burn. Now it's next to my bed and I read it before I go to sleep.

That's July and August.

I celebrated my birthday in Sept with a visit from DD#2 and the MIL. The whole family was together at DD#1's restaurant and then some of us went on the river tour. Definitely worth the 25-year wait.

There was a breeze on the river and when we got to the lake end, we were chilly. Autumn in Chicago can be warm, cool, chilly, rainy but you never know what, when. I was inspired to knit a sweater:

This is the best thing I have ever knit. I followed the instructions as written, just adjusted for length. Even when the sleeve cap seemed too pointy and long, I did as I was told. The sweater fits like a glove (that I didn't make) and I wore it every day the first week. Now I wear it when I need comfort or want to feel confident.

Augusta cardigan, New England Knits. Peace Fleece. Zarya Fog. Souvenir yarn from Brooklyn General Store.

I could knit this again. The only modification I would make is there should be just 3 buttonholes. This is more like a v-neck sweater so there shouldn't be the top button above the curve.

Next time will be occasion knitting. Christmas is coming but there have been occasions for knitting all year.

What I did on my summer vacation

2011-10-08T12:05:00.003-05:00

I work at a major research university that starts the fall term at the end of September. This has always been a great luxury because when the girls were in school, we were able to get through the hysteria of the start of school year separately - the girls got their new school clothes and the neat folders well before I had to consider the arrangements for new graduate students.

So I am now considering what I did this summer. Despite the dearth of blogging these past months (I mean on the blog because there has been plenty of blogging in my mind), I have been knitting.

Consider the socks.

Zauberball sock yarn I bought at the Brooklyn General Store

Regia from my yarn enabler or maybe donated by a grad student with too much yarn

Patons from Michaels

I attempted to deplete my sock yarn stash and thought I would abandon the interesting stitch-pattern socks that take time and concentration and crank out utilitarian socks - handknit woolies so why do I feel I compromised? Each pair can be done in a weekend with a good PBS schedule if I didn't pay any attention to the dust bunnies, dishes, food prep. The washing machine can work on its own (I want a roomba) since it's always a good idea to stir from the chair to switch the loads at least once an hour and get the circulation going.

I like the YH book Knitting Rules because it's a recipe book for basic projects. Once a knitter is experienced enough to take a step back from explicit instructions, this type of book is a lot of fun. One of the guidelines for socks is to make the leg as long as your palm. I tend to lose interest in knitting around and around before that happens but after seeing the Regia socks, I'm going to try to stay the course. The other socks just come up over my ankle bone but that little bit of extra room is really comfortable. I also have worked out a pattern on size 1 needles - these are all cast-ons of 64 but the yarns are so different that the Patons and Zauberball are different degrees of snug yet the Regia is loose enough that I gave them to my larger-footed daughter. And speaking of snug, I have remembered that I re-knit the toes on the Patons and Zauberball socks - instead of decreasing 2 stitches every other row to 50% of the stitch count and then every row to 25%, I kept the every other row sequence to the end. The smaller needles were too much for the accelerated decrease at the end and made the toe too narrow. A nice exploration - the advantage of not hopping from project to project.

My sock theme was supported by a class I attended at the Midwest Fiber and Folkart Festival at the end of June in Greyslake, IL. I wanted to take the twined knitting class but I seem to have been the only one who registered so I opted for another class taught by the same woman, Arnhild Hillesland, called Heel Appeal. We learned 4 heels that are traditional to Norwegian knitting. Unfortunately I secured my handout in a book or bag or notebook and can't work on these heels. The Regia socks have one of these heels and we had a good discussion in the class on the advantage of different heels but I can't remember how the heels are worked.

The beginning of the school year also seems the time to make new year's resolutions, not after Christmas. I think I will keep a stockinette sock going all the time and keep it in my bag for those brief moments of waiting. I do always have knitting with me but sometimes I just need something to occupy my hands, not my brain.

Manufacture

2011-05-01T19:22:00.004-05:00

I used to compile a huge report each year in my previous job. I celebrated the end of the project when I put the page numbers on each page. Up to 300 pages, I printed the separate files starting the page numbers where the previous file left off, sometimes running form pages through the manual feed. Tedious work but satisfying to be handling the project one last time and seeing it all put in order.

I don't have to run these reports anymore, all that experience being aimed at other bits of academic administrivia. Not to worry, I found a counterpart in knitting - I-cord bind off.

The baby afghan is done - I got to handle the knitting one more time. With live afghan stitches on the left needle, cast on three stitches, knit two, knit the third stitch with the first afghan stitch; slip all three stitches back onto the left-hand needle. I don't know how many stitches there are in the edging. Maybe 300.

Knitting in my head

2011-02-25T15:15:00.004-06:00

I keep a mental inventory of my unfinished projects - I remember my Liberty afghan, the mystery afghan, Yank done in the Blackberry Farms de-stash blog yarn with the sleeves that slipped gauge, 2 Ramblin' Rows afghans, 2 recent failed sweaters. But I wasn't keeping track of these:

The pink ones were a Christmas present that didn't work out. When DD#1 tried the one finished sock on (maybe Christmas day) and she didn't feel that cozy hug of knitting, I lost interest. Tucked the whole project away in the nice handpainted box.

The gray and blue socks were a make-up present that got put aside but I'm surprised that I didn't do more work on #2 - oops. DD#1: I owe you!

Love, mom.

A sweater for an Afghan

2011-02-24T15:06:00.004-06:00

I have taken the radical step of scheduling a week away from work in February. For more than 20 years, I enjoyed the busiest time of the year in February but with my new job one level up, I can watch the admins working diligently at the admissions process and wait for the results of their labor to trickle to (other staff in) my office. I would have been plenty busy had I gone to work this week but I opted out. No email even (until Sunday, in anticipation of returning to work on Monday - I can't take the cold shock of returning to work without dipping my toes in the deep pool of email).

DH and I visited Starved Rock to see the eagles (no pictures, just watched their winged glide over the Illinois River), took a short side trip to my ancestral home and took pictures of my forebears' graves (great-great and great-grandfather were stone masons but most of the grave markers seem to have been replaced as I suspect the earlier markers were limestone which disintegrated in the intervening 80-100 years), and I started a new project - my ravelry page tells me I did not get around to making donation for the 2010 efforts of afghans 4 Afghans.

Current project: a sweater for the 7-14 year old set for the current youth campaign:

Pattern: "Rosemary's Little Sweater" (gotta love that one-piece knit project) in The Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book, using Patons Classic Wool using the singular "Bonne Terre" colorway. Trim is Lamb's Pride left over from a small wrist bag I made on impulse. I hope to figure out a mock turtleneck. Knitting from the bottom up made for a regular stripe though a diagonal slant. The varigation doesn't show the cables along the arms but these added some excitement to the knitting. I used a full skein for the torso instead knitting to the proscribed 12", in order to gain the length critical for these sweaters so important to keep the little kids of the region warm.

The sleeve is a second attempt because though the instructions say to pick up 60 sts then decrease over a couple inches down to 42, I slipped the first stitch of the front and back and could initially pick up only about 40. Julie confirmed today (coffee with Julie being another vacation treat) that the very start of the sleeve was narrow and floppy so I ripped back and took her advice to kfb to gain the 60 sts (when I knit the first full row, I twisted the picked-up stitches to tighten the join). The sleeve width is now more symmetrical to the length of the sweater and the cloth is dense (again, the purpose of the wool sweater is warmth).

I was in the spare room on Sunday, opening boxes and piling yarn on the bed with this project in mind, when DH poked his head in. "What are you doing?" he asked, and I know he was thinking I was making a mess. "Looking for yarn" was the obvious reply. When he closed the door without a word, I think he thought I had found plenty of yarn.

An attempt at lace and the snow

2011-02-08T19:08:00.008-06:00

I started to knit the Corner to Corner Shawl around Christmas because blog-free April sent me a present of two marvelous skeins of green alpaca fingering weight yarn.

Not so easy! I have actually ripped out some rows already, then noted the exact count on the pattern

and yet, still do not have the right pattern going

I'll rip it again - there are probably 8 rows to take out. Where is that lifeline?

I love knitting this pattern though.

To take your mind off my miserable knitting, look what else I did

I shoveled that (and more), Can you see how DEEP that snow is? A drift to the front door of our building.

I ventured farther than the front door on Wed, 2/2, and, once again, am glad I don't have to drive in this weather.

The knitting and cats endure

2011-01-20T21:02:00.008-06:00

It's been so long that somehow I have acquired some followers and I didn't know it! I hope they all like knitting and cats. Maybe if I don't make eye contact they will stick around.

After I posted the previous entry in August, planning to regale you with my vacation knitting in future posts, my work life exploded. Let's just say when someone asks you to apply for a job, it isn't because they want to get rid of you. However, my quiet life taking care of 75 graduate students is over and taking care of 450 takes a lot more of my time. There are many talented administrators but there are plenty of ways student records can get in a tangle and there you are - 5 months later.

One of an extremely comfortable pair of socks. 3x1 rib, No Sheep for You in gift sock yarn.

Here is a good looking toe

Some of that vacation knitting I didn't blog about:

And finally, the cats - TJ was trapped by a really nice guy but he couldn't convince TJ to spend his life inside.

He bolted on down the stairs even though the ground is covered with snow.

I knit with a little help from my friends

2010-08-14T12:18:00.005-05:00

Have I used that title before? Seems strangely familiar . . . .

My knitting is informed by everything around me. My friends and I talk about sweaters, scarves, mittens; I troll online for ideas; I admire knitwear on the street. I should carry a notebook so I keep a list to choose from when swept by that wave of ennui as I pick up and discard any of the projects already at hand.

Here is a project that has exact and direct links to several friends.

Julie gave me inspiration. Our coffee meetings take place around her kitchen table which at different times is where she feeds her family, reads her books and studies her knitting. One time she had a new book to solve a recent design problem, The Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book. Self-serving as these books are, produced by a yarn company and featuring the sponsor's yarns (though I hesitate to label anything to do with Green Mountain Spinnery as "corporate"), I decided that day I could knit every single item in the book - I like the project or want the item. This over-qualifies for purchase. I found it, bought it, alternately panted, sighed and drooled over it.

April gave me the material. Among the yarn she divested when I visited in May was a bag lot of this colorful cotton. The yarn has endless possibilities - something for baby: a cloth, a bib, an afghan; something for bigger people like a vest. "Rebecca's Little Sweater" calls for cotton. Wildflower D.K. Fancy became a sweater.

Anna gave me a reason to knit. Part of Hyde Park Cats, she was the object of the quiet excitement that other women feel when a baby is going to be born. We had a shower for her way back in April, breaking all the rules of caution that baby showers should not happen until closer to the due date. Schedules fill up and people had other plans. Little baby was born ahead of schedule, blowing my deadline of early August but the sweater is done and big enough that once I add the buttons, everything is ready until the wee one is a bit bigger.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The wild, the wet, and the woolie

2010-08-13T18:24:00.007-05:00

We went on vacation at the end of July and I brought my knitting along. This year we were accompanied by the MIL which turned out just fine. Instead of parking ourselves in front of the TV when we visit her, we got her out and about, in the middle of nature and sometimes just on the outskirts. We stayed in a fully furnished house, decorated to put us in the mood:

We got right out there -

Munising Falls:

The view from Miner's Castle

Lake Superior a little closer at hand:

and the start of a fun project 3 miles from the car:

Book, disk, picture and skein

2010-07-18T16:18:00.004-05:00

A River Runs Throught It is a quiet masterpiece by Norman MacLean. I used to read it at least once a year until I decided to put it away for a while.

We have the books - the 1976 paperback published by the University of Chicago Press which includes other short stories; 1989 hardback published by the Pennyroyal Press with wide margins that extends the story to 161 pages. Some of the short stories are integrated into the larger story.

We have the movie - one time we invited several friends to watch the movie and everyone had to bring a dish with a fish theme. I can't remember what we made but I remember a neighbor boy snatched one or two crab cakes from his parents' platter to express his displeasure at being excluded from the feast.

We even have a poster. I honestly don't know where this came from - maybe it was a give-away with the hardback from the UC bookstore. We had this poster in our very early days when tacking up pictures with wall putty was just fine, as you can see by the oil marks in the corner. I didn't remember we have this until I cleaned out the closet in the spare room as we were moving - used to be the master bedroom - and pulled down a picture mat that I could see had a couple different prints. This was under a child's print of a bunny.

Now I have the sock yarn.

When I went to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival to take the 1/2 day class, "Lace Edgings: Before, During and After," taught by Franklin Habit, I was determined not to buy any yarn. I am full-up! Not only are there the many boxes that can't be unpacked because there is no where to put the yarn, UFOs, embroidery projects, I also have the boxes that had to be sent from Indy after my LYS crawl with the blog-free, Mrs. B, as well as the two bags full hiding in plain view from the Nana's Knitting Shop closure. Too much!

I was not surprised to see the core contingent from Nana's at MWFFA. I listened while some told of their excesses. They all came away with some beautiful stuff. I was especially interested in the Carol Sunday stall and some sock yarn that everyone seemed to buy - multi-colored, interesting names. I succumbed. Toe Jamz Sock Yarn, A River Runs Through It colorway. Resistance was futile.

Each skein is 450 yards. That's too much for the way I knit socks. This is going to have to marinate for a bit while I wait for inspiration. I think I'll read the book.

How long does it take?

2010-07-08T21:55:00.004-05:00

This is a question knitters get from time to time. Time spent on a project is hard to quantify because nothing is done in one sitting. I, for one, do not practice knitting monogamy. Does one count the amount of time sitting motionless, watching the ball going towards the goal and then ricocheting off the pole? How about the time spent yelling at the refs?

I could tell you, step by step, exactly how long these socks have took to knit if I could remember how to make a line in Photoshop. Instead, I'll use my words.

As we drove through Indiana and Ohio, I knit a cuff the length of my hand.

I knit the heel and turned the heel before we got to Exit 111 on I-80 (Clearfield) but that includes our dinner at the Dutch Pantry and watching the weather channel while Chicago was under a tornado warning.

Then the toe decrease was worked around packing, cleaning, sweeping, storing DD#3 stuff in Brooklyn. And waiting through traffic on the Queens/Brooklyn Expressway, getting to a hotel in the LaGuardia area. Brooklyn is a hotel desert.

I did a temporary 3-needle bind-off because I didn't pack a needle nor my plasticated Kitchner instructions.

Sock #2:

This much was done NJ/Pennsylvania. There were two back-ups that swelled the clock. One was a spinning roll-over accident on I-282 in NJ. The minivan was upside down still when we passed by. The other one was so slow that we got off on exit 242 and detoured through charming
rural PA to exit 224 where traffic was moving as if there were not a cork stuck in the bottle. You never know if the detour will take longer than sitting it out. But I can tell you there is nothing more interminable that watching the back end of a semi trailer at 15 miles an hour.

I don't think I did any knitting when we visited DD#2 in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure I didn't do any knitting. We spent some time with the ping-pong table in her living room and the rest of the time staring at the floor - how can anyone live with all that stuff on the floor? Clothes, pennies, quarters, empty envelopes - she says no food but I have my doubts about that.

And then the heel/gusset/insole as we zipped through OH/IN.

I was so relieved to be back home that I put the sock aside while I reacquainted myself with the kitties, did laundry (no coins! no laundry cards! no stairs!), enjoyed our central air.

I could live in a box

2010-06-22T11:49:00.004-05:00

We moved to a new apartment in March - we still marvel at our luck. A complete upgrade, we feel like we are living in a hotel. No more clawfoot bathtub, quirky pitch and yaw to the floor, noisy construction trucks sifting dust through our closed windows. Central air, hardwood floors, big-hair bathrooms. And lower electricity bills because the wiring is 100 years newer!

But Charlie is happy to squeeze himself in a shoebox.

Stop motion warmth

2010-03-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

The way a nice piece of knitting can make you feel

Don't move!

2010-02-27T10:04:00.004-06:00

Is that what Cowboy is telling me? He has begun to sleep on the table and buffet, and now is in the hutch. I needed 5 boxes to pack the treasures from the (mostly) empty slots. Those get moved in the minivan by us (me).

Knitting during the Olympics

2010-02-24T19:57:00.004-06:00

I am not part of the Knitting Olympics but I knit during the Olympics.

Misti Alpaca worsted, bought at Knitche in Downer's Grove, Martha Stewart neck scarf, size 3 needles.

I saw this scarf on ayosgalan's page on Ravelry and then on the same day, the Mason-Dixon blog. Seemed like an omen. Of course, I didn't pay close attention to the directions and knit the end too long before splitting for the slit and so added the same design element on the end.

I need to buy a shirt for the scarf to accessorize.

Eternal gift

2010-02-07T22:05:00.004-06:00

I started this shawl for a dear friend and almost finished it August 2009. I know that because I posted the project on Ravelry - the body stitched, the trim nearly done. A modification of Ishbel - instead of stockinette, the body of the shawl is garter stitch.

I knit on trim from Galina Khmeleva's Gossamer Webs. Knitting at 90 degrees to the body worked fine until I got to the tip of the triangle.

The project stalled when I was confronted with the math - how to modify the perpendicular, straight line, to match the point of the triangle?

I made notes, sketched out a medallion, knit and ripped. Let it lie.

Then my dear friend died unexpectedly. I lost my friend and I had an unfinished gift.

Over the autumn, I explored other shawlette patterns. I made a completely different scarf. When I picked up the shawl again, I let my fingers guide the way. I knit an inexpert solution. Knit to the stitch before center, slip, knit 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over. I continued the spine down the center, decreased the stitches, and ended up with a bit of a point. Done.

I wore the shawl to dinner with friends today. Not to show what I did, but what I meant to give to our friend. I knew these smart ladies would know what I should do with the late gift. We will share the shawl among ourselves, wear our friend's love, and pass it on.

Baby knitting

2009-12-30T14:23:00.005-06:00

There have been a flurry of stork wings - not here, but elsewhere, among young people who are starting on THAT ROAD of parenthood, full of joy and misery. We can't tell them that. Instead, we send handknits to cloak the wee ones in love.

The Hap Blanket, from Whimsical Little Knits by Ysolde Teague, for Jane Lydia. Variation using smaller weight yarn but cleared out a bag from the closet. 100% wool because the new mom is of the sisterhood and will not dump the blanket in with the t-shirts. There is also a cat in the household so my resident cats borrowing the blanket will not be a problem.

My favorite baby sweater, using some favorite needles bought in the UK. Little pink socks for Natasha Isabel as well. All machine-washable because although this is the first child and grandchild on one side, mom is a lawyer and dad is a research scientist. I suspect they have a front-loader.

Elijah will be for Ramiro, the 2nd boy in his family. As the second, same-sex child, though not born exactly at the same time of year, there is not the same immediate need to get presents sent his way. But big brother does not have a stuffed elephant, I am pretty sure.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T11:05:00.003-06:00

The perfect ornament on the tree -

Knitting reports to continue after the presents are open.

Pie for Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T10:09:00.003-06:00

A family tradition. And the other part of the tradition to trying to find the recipe - because we securely file it away every year under P in the recipe box.

Walnut Pie

Preheat oven at 350.

1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1 T flour

Combine above ingredients

Add:

2 eggs
2 T milk
1 t vanilla
1/2 c melted butter
1 c walnuts

Line pie plate with crust. Pour in the filling. Bake until set, approx 40-50 minutes.

- Peggy Hall, 3/25/1985

Cats and wet wool

2009-11-23T19:04:00.004-06:00

If cats don't like getting wet, why can they not resist lounging on a wet piece of knitting, set out for blocking?

The vest is from Knitting Classic Style by Veronique Avery. Denim by Paton's. Instead of a zipper closing, I'm going to use wooden buttons with loops.

The neck scarf is the latest Schoolhouse Press knit-along, the Icelandic neck scarf. I used some merino/alpaca blend that I bought at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival (great fun!) by Frontier Fiber Mill (Indiana). Turned out very small. I don't know what the gauge should have been but won't be as useful as Ishbel.

This afghan is one of the baby afghans due in December. The Hap Blanket in Whimsical Little Knits by Ysolda Teague. Ella Rae garter stitch center and border stripes in Feather and Fan of Frog Tree merino.

This isn't so much a picture of cats on wet wool, because the afghan has been blocked for about 24 hours, as it is of the older cat passing on her charms to the younger; Monkee has tricked Terry into being her protection for a nap on the afghan.

Striped cats striped

2009-11-01T17:27:00.002-06:00

Terry, Ronnie and Moggy have tested negative for FIV and FeLV. These kitties are ready for a new home. PAWS will call when an opening is available; Kathleen might still foster them when her friend and the friend's 4 cats move back to newly-finished floor towards mid-November. In the meantime, I am enjoying having babies again.

A sweater and a pair of mittens

2009-10-20T18:44:00.009-05:00

Soon to be on their way to San Francisco and eventually to Afghanistan. The sweater was started for this latest youth campaign. The mittens were offered at the church Christmas bazaar last year but there were not takers. A child in Afghanistan is a worthy substitute.

Now back to the Clapotis. My dislike for the number 13 has bit me in the butt - should have continued to read the rest of the instructions. I didn't need to omit a stripe because there are more stripes after the 13th. Ergh. Will have to further modify so my first modification makes (other) sense.

The poem is knit

2009-10-19T16:46:00.002-05:00

and it turns out to be "My Craft or Sullen Art" by Dylan Thomas. Abridged below, with respect to any pertinent copyright law.

In my craft or sullen art
Exercised in the still night
When only the moon rages
And the lovers lie abed
With all their griefs in their arms,

//I write poetry not for rude cash or vulgar fame but to appeal to the better angels of their being//

Not for the proud man apart
From the raging moon I write
On these spindrift pages

//not for the dead to celebrate their life//

But for the lovers, their arms
Round the griefs of the ages,
Who pay no praise or wages
Nor heed my craft or art.

I wish I had named my blog, "On these spindrift pages."

Hyde Park trivia: Dylan Thomas drank and was drunk at Jimmy's.

Pictures of creating and on display at the British Library: http://www.flickr.co/photos/37412030@N07/sets/72157622417096871/

The unveiling was timed to coincide with the UK National Poetry Day Live (or live). The project is in celebration of the Poetry Society's centenary.

More poems that engage knitting are posted at The Poetry Society

The yarn room is a kitten refuge

2009-10-14T22:32:00.004-05:00

A new colony has come to light in a different alley - luckily another member of HPC will take the lead on the TNR, TNfoster, and ongoing feeding. I visited for a training session on Monday and came away with two cats:

Celia, who is a boy - but see that eyebrow???

And Terry - a small girl kitten, one of a litter of three, but a family of four.

I returned tonight to catch the other kittens. Celia stuck around for the grub:

Ronnie and Magee cooperated. Here is Ronnie on his way in.

The third littermate, Moggy, did just about everything except walk in the trap - you can see the reflection from his eyes watching Ronnie. Moggy is on his own tonight but I have a feeling will be interested in a new situation tomorrow. Especially if I am more assertive about removing the food someone very nicely placed on the paper plate.

There is plenty of room for another kitten under the bed:

Knitting alert

2009-10-07T18:45:00.003-05:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled knitting with an important announcement:

afghans 4 Afghans has access to a container headed to Asia around the end of October/beginning of Nov. We have an all-out assault on the impending cold with the 2009 Youth Campaign in Time for This Winter.

Alors:

the start of one seamless raglan, high-necked sweater, size 12, hopefully big enough for the larger youth of the area:

Afghans like color, by golly, they got color. I bought this yarn specifically for a a4A project; I just thought it would be a seafoam-like afghan. The yarn knew otherwise.

Onward -

Triskaidekaphobia

2009-10-05T11:23:00.006-05:00

If the first rule of knitting is always make a swatch, what is the second rule? Read the pattern! I am reading the Clapotis pattern as I go -

cast on, knit some, increase here and there, place marker.

The most exciting section is when you get to drop a stitch to the bottom to make the fabulous open work:

After doing this the first time, you do it 12 more times.

That makes 13 open stripes.

euwww - I am not 13-phobic, I'm not superstitious. I don't think people involved with the #13 have a hex on their lives, but I don't go out of my way to find 13 - I didn't get married on the 13th, none of my children were born on the 13th (OK, turns out not to be within my control), I wouldn't want to live on the 13th floor, although I scoff at elevators without a stop on the 13th floor - I just can't knit a pattern that counts the number 13 as a big part of the picture. Taboo.

I brought my knitting to the student talks today and when I explained my problem to Pam, who already seemed aware of the glitch, solutions were at the ready. Final answer - skip the middle dropped stitch - knit right over it, and have an extra wide bit of knitting before resuming dropping the stitch at repeat 7/8. There ya go -

New yarn and a book too

2009-09-28T20:39:00.004-05:00

It's meh birthday, happy birthday. It's meh birthday -

Being a woman of a certain age, I don't need a party, a cake, a hat and streamers. I went to the yarn store yesterday, to treat myself a day early:

When I got home, I cast on for the 12765th Clapotis to be posted on Ravelry. Alpaca Lace on size 4 dpn (using 2). I'm almost ready to put in the 17th marker. 12764 other knitters know that I am almost done with the increases.

A few more days and I will have an ooh la la neck warmer. Just in time since it's getting cold.

Cast on in haste

2009-09-26T09:09:00.005-05:00

repent at leisure. Knit with regret. Knit with dread. Knit forever.

I bought MDKOL last October when Ann was at Loopy Yarns, bought the boatload of yarn for the Libery afghan immediately, and even wound some yarn on the bus home. I was done with the facing by the time I went to bed. I was excited!

This all came to a slow halt in the cold light of day though. Two-stranded knitting has a certain rhythm. Slow. The pattern reveals itself in due course, after a lot of knitting. I knit through the top of the artichoke, the flame, the tree - call that shorter motif what you want, you don't see its full glory for 46 rows into the pattern. 46 rows x 200 stitches, two strands of yarn with size 8 needles

I am in awe of all those ravelers who have already completed this afghan, especially those with a deadline but I had to move on. Notice all those projects listed above Liberty to the right -

Now that the Chicago air has a certain crispness and all schools are back in session, I have pulled out the afghan again. After spending so much time an established part of the fireplace, I had moved the bag to my new yarn closet. I had to think exactly where I had rearranged the project to sit. Nothing had been done. Alas, there was as little as I thought.

One week of ignoring my a4A project, the blessing of the animals project, and everything going on around me, I have finally finished the full repeat - 20% complete. I moved the progress bar on my Ravelry entry. Yoo hoo! Only 4 more repeats, 80% of the afghan, to go.

Blessing of the animals

2009-09-19T13:45:00.005-05:00

Hyde Park Cats will have a table at the Rockefeller Chapel's Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, October 4. This is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi who wrote in the Canticle of the Creatures: "All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures."

I would love to have my kitties blessed but I won't be able to attend. Instead, I am working on a basketful of these, available for a contribution:

Made according to the directions for the Christmas ornaments in Handknit Holidays, these are stuffed with fiberfill and catnip for that extra kick. I have plenty of small balls of sock yarn to create these little treats.

IBOL

2009-09-07T10:29:00.005-05:00

When I read about the Iraqi Bundles of Love last week at WoolGathering and then again at Mason-Dixon Knitting, I thought, what a good idea. I wish I had enough stuff to fill a box.

Oh pleez. Who am I kidding?

On the floor of DD#3's closet, under her high school collection of discarded clothing and purses bought on impulse, was a box containing a tangled mess of acrylic yarn as well as this

In the spirit I received this bounty - I had no yarn, wanted yarn, would take any yarn, and used a lot of the yarn - I am passing it on to others who will appreciate having yarn.

Shifting a whole box out of the apt is enough incentive to get to the post office across the street from my office, get back home at lunch, stuff the box, and mail it at the end of the day. IBOL box postmark deadline is 9/8/09.

What I did on my summer vacation

2009-09-06T22:10:00.004-05:00

Labor Day! Summer's over. I have a few more weeks before the quarter begins but the time is filled with an all-day meeting, orientation, and getting ready for all of the above.

I managed to use 5 weeks of vacation this summer. I knew it was possible. Not much me time but good to have that balance lowered. At the end, no one wishes they could have spent more time at work.

I made small projects this summer. All three girls are on their own in apartments shared with other people. Mitered kitchen towels! Here is one that I got a picture of before sending it on its way:

DD#3 wrote on her list of things to pack: the towel my mom made me. I asked her to take a picture and I need a picture of DD#2's towel also.

I have re-named this file on Ravelry, "Mitered kitchen towel collection."

This looks big but it only took about 3 days, crocheting in my sit-down time:

One of my 5 weeks was spent driving DD#3 to NY - that left an empty bedroom! I found a partial afghan in the closet when I cleared out the detritus to make room for the stash of yarn previously living in the corner of our bedroom. Lion's Brand Homespun, seemed to be short 2 skeins so I re-worked it with the unrelated 2 skeins in the bag. Double-stranded with a size Q hook. This yarn is just an optical illusion. As long as the yarn is in the same family, you can mix and match without worrying too much about stark contrast. This is my first addition to the gift pile.

Then there is Ishbel.

Ishbel is the perfect scarf but I am not in love with the final trim. I am very happy to have finished this, with its own secret ingredient at the end, and I wear it a lot, but when I tried to make another one, my hands refused to move forward after getting to 173 stitches. So we have "Variation on Ishbel."

The body was mistakenly knit in garter stitch but to the specifications of Ishbel. The trim is from Gossamer Webs, a knit-on trim that really is flawless - the technique, not the knitting. I will have to use graph paper to plot out the center medallion as the last phase.

More about the katz

2009-07-29T13:47:00.003-05:00

All of the Twelve Apostles, except John the Evangelist who is depicted at the foot of the cross, were martyred. Some early converts live to see their mission picked up and propagated:

Curbing feral cat populations without killing

You can take the cat off the street

2009-07-14T22:14:00.005-05:00

KittyBeth has had 3 or more squares a day and a roof over her head since June 21 - that's when Sandy rescued her and her 4 kittens out of the alley. But she still appreciates the bounty nature provides:

Leftover rice. There are starving cats everywhere. Mustn't let it go to waste.

And she's teaching Yum-Yum to be grateful.

Cat and dot game

2009-07-08T21:38:00.000-05:00

Check it out: http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/chatnoir/chatnoir.html

Many different kinds of cats

2009-06-21T20:36:00.008-05:00

I had the week off and cleared some piles, planted marigolds, and knit, knit, knit. That means I knit on one project:

Another lace project but a simple 8-row repeat this time (action on the odd-numbered rows, purl back on the even rows). I used row markers galore and had to sketch the pattern on a post-it.

I was going to keep knitting until the yarn was gone or the scarf measured 60" but that was too boring. I am going to use the scarf to ward off the air-conditioning chill so it only needs to go around one time.

Yarn: Malabrigo laceweight, Vera Cruz; Cat's Paw pattern from my needlework dictionary. Used 2 size 4.5 dpn with a needleholder on the end to keep the work from sliding off.

And then just tonight, as round 4 of the US Open was called for darkness, I got a call that a mama cat with 4 kittens have been trapped but Treehouse isn't picking up the phone. Temporary housing in the back of the van with the vents open:

Mom is a friendly and the kittens are happy to be held. They all deserve forever homes.

25 years later

2009-06-14T15:14:00.003-05:00

Phew! What a month!

I finished my Wrapped in Tradition poncho in time to wear it to DD#3's graduation. The lace poncho was fun - I wanted to keep knitting to see what the next pattern would look like. Getting the daughter through to the end was the challenge. I wanted her to stop working through the stages and behaviors and phases -

Before graduation, we went to the annual scholarship reception with DD#2 who came in town from Pittsburgh. That was on a Monday. The Sunday before was when we moved DD#1 to her new apt - shared with 3 other women and 2 cats. As far north as we are south, but in a more interesting area for a 24-year old. The Saturday before the move on Sunday was the 2009 prom for DD#3. Cute - was not as fun as she thought but there you are. The Friday before the Saturday was prom #1 which she attended with her friend who didn't have a date. This was at her former high school so was kind of a nice good-bye.

And the weekend before the weekend of receptions, moving, and proms was our 25th wedding anniversary. Who knew how this would all turn out?

Reduce, recycle, reuse

2009-05-25T13:41:00.012-05:00

I bought some Lorna's Laces Swirl Chunky in December 2008 from Nana's Knit Shop. My good friend blog-free April might remember that shopping trip (!) I didn't know what I wanted to make with it but the yarn was so beautiful that I wanted it. The yarn was on sale, but at the time (and maybe still), the most I have paid for yarn. Surpassing, ever so slightly, what I paid for the Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride and Burly Spun for the felted rug.

Soon, the EZ Bog Jacket was calling to me. I swatched and refigured and modified then knit it up:

Hmm - not what I had in mind. The jacket is very heavy - chunky yarn in garter stitch with a size 8. Dense and blocky. Impossible to wear. I received that very nice knitting bag from blog-free April on that same December day and that is where the unfinished jacket sat for a very long time. Right next to the recliner.

We are in frugal times and I have large piles of (boxes and bags of) yarn in the corner of my bedroom, near the chair in the living room, and even in my office. I want new yarn but how can I justify one more skein??? Fast-forward to a day I was on Ravelry and found Nordicfibregirl's Jawbreaker Cardigan in Lorna's Laces. Fabulous!

Reduce my pile of unfinished objects.

Recycle the yarn - after frogging the (failed) Bog Jacket, I soaked the yarn and put the skeins on my porch rail to dry. Saturday night was not very warm so the yarn spent the next day basking in the sun. Sunday was not very warm either, and despite being flipped and switched around to stay in the sunbeams, most of the skeins are still damp, even today.

Reuse the yarn into a sweater I can wear!

by Nordicfibregirl Flickr

I will get the pattern (Interweave Knits Winter 2006) from fully blogging Julie.

Golden Boy

2009-05-09T22:32:00.004-05:00

This one has a name now, Golden. I trapped him last Monday, took him to the Anti-Cruelty Society on Tuesday to be neutered, and released him Wednesday morning. I finally saw him again tonight, finally, when I fed the group.

This one, however, was my target. Ingleside. He has a stumpy tail and big gnawed spots on the side of his head. Weepy eyes. He is probably everyone's Papa. I have given him a taste of the yummy Friskies 9-Lives. I will try again on Monday.

Join the crowd

2009-05-05T17:51:00.004-05:00

I succumbed, relented, gave in. I made a Lady February sweater. Only one of 5502 projects of such on Ravelry (as of 5:59, 5/5/09).

This was junk food. I couldn't resist and I couldn't stop. Knit in one piece (hooray), garter stitch with a little excitement of M1 pm M1 on the right side, then a 4-row, 7-stitch repeat until morning. But wait; there's drama.

I didn't have enough yarn. Tried to finish off the sleeves to an acceptable length with alternate garter stitch stripes of a reasonable facsimile. Boo. Bad color match and too short. No pictures.

Found yarn, frugally bought the carefully estimated minimum - we could be in the next greatest depression after all - then seem to have lost one skein. Boo.

Decided the body really would benefit from a trip to the frog pond so that the gull stitch would.line.up. Markers! Every 7 stitches! Wonder tools! The Baby February should meet the same fate.

Found yarn again, from the same vendor on eBay, bought all that was on offer. Finished this sucker off - body a little longer and sleeves below the elbow.

Bought short-sleeved t-shirts to accessorize.

If I had it to do over again, I would cut out that abherrent stripe of maroon. I thought I would see it in every skein but only sometimes. And on the right-side knit, I would purl the band as well. I like the side of the band where the garter is all one color.

Ella Rae, Palermo, better part of 10 skeins, size 8 circ and dpn. Loopy Yarns in Chicago and Needleworks in Champaign-Urbana.

Cassoulet du fil

2009-05-04T20:45:00.007-05:00

I'm taking a lace class at Nana's Knit Shop - Wrapped in Tradition from Wrap Style. I tried to talk myself into a neutral silver/white/cream but instead just reached for the red. What a fun knit. This is the bottom band, knit sideways - we pick up 238 stitches across the top. I thought this made blocking not optional.

I love the look of the detail. I don't know where I will wear it, and I wonder if the Kid Seta will shed (mohair and silk). Red yarn hairs will clash with all the cat hair already adherring to my clothes.

Just the katz

2009-04-05T19:54:00.003-05:00

I think there were a couple days when I wasn't knitting. I know there were a couple Saturdays when I was not in Chicago, called by familial duty to attend to the elders.

Each day when I get home for work, before I can think of settling down with my needles, I head straight to the van because I found some more kitties about two blocks south of me, living around abandoned and renovating buildings. Please be assured that these cats will not end up in our household. Feral cats cannot be socialized to be a regular, lap-jumping, purring pet. These are outside, street cats who will live a more settled life if fed on a regular basis, and are neutered or spayed. All these photos are taken with the zoom lens.

Ellis

Unnamed, one of Eddie's black cats

Rambam

The group at hydeparkcats has been busy with the TNR (trap, neuter, release). We have trapped 6 cats so far: also Little Buddy, Rachel/Finzi, Rachamim and Nimr (there is an affinity for Jewish theologians and Hebrew in the group - I was going with R1, R2, R3, etc). Only Rachel is a female but even so, we have prevented, over time, approximately 200,000 cats from roaming the streets. I need to urge Eddie, a man I have known in the neighborhood for about 20 years, that his little colony of all-blacks also need to be fixed. He likes the kittens.

What is the Brooklyn College mascot?

2009-03-18T17:59:00.003-05:00

And what are the school colors? I need to find out because DD#3 got a full-tuition scholarship, a one-time travel grant, and a laptop for being admitted to the Macaulay Honors College! That deserves an afghan.

The high school afghans

2009-03-03T16:54:00.007-06:00

When DD#1 graduated, she had a couple of good friends throughout high school that I felt needed an afghan for college. This was in 2003 and I might not have been knitting again. I'm pretty sure I crocheted the afghans. All of the group have graduated and two (women) are back in the area. DD#1 has seen at least one afghan in the grown-up apartment.

DD#2 had a boyfriend - he also got a crocheted afghan that I featured on this blog. She let her other good friends fall away.

DD#3 did not want me to make felted slippers for a good friend who graduated last year. I thought she might not want me to make an afghan for friends who will graduate with her this year so I made plans to make an afghan for cousin Katie - the Tree of Life Afghan was done to this stage probably last fall - it's pretty far down the 2008 list in the right bar. That's planning! I don't know when the Northeastern school district graduates but I have to believe I'm ahead of the game.

I need to knit an edging of tulip buds/leaves. On paper this seems interminable so I have put it off until last week. I won't be able to memorize the pattern but there is a certain intuitive feel as the pattern comes to a point so it moves pretty quickly.

Then I decided DD#3 does not get to choose whether or not her friend gets an afghan. EZ created a pattern that might turn out OK - sure, there is definitely assembly but I've modified this to a three-needle bind-off. There will be a multitude of ends to weave in - what you see in the picture below are strings of cotton holding the stitches until I mate another square. I picked a washable wool in a color combination in reality (eggplant and plum) that I like - DD#3 thinks Camilla will like it as well.

I will try to remember to take final (better) photos before they are wrapped and given away.

Permission to knit early and often

2009-03-01T14:28:00.005-06:00

Knit anything and everything you want . . .
Vicki Square, Interweave Knits Spring 2009

There ya go - project monogamy is boring. I can knit anything I want, any time I want. Am I a grown-up?

I started the Lady February Sweater on my brother's birthday, when everyone else in the country was celebrating Abe Lincoln's birthday. I bought sale yarn at Loopy Yarns last summer, determined to buy the yarn but knowing there is not quite enough for a sweater. 7 skeins, 110 yds each. Oh hope springs eternal. I cast on for LF anyway, because I liked the look of the varigated yarn that the Yarn Harlot used.

When there were two skeins left and the body was not yet to my waist and the sleeves only figments of my (optimistic) imagination, I bought two more skeins on eBay (woo hoo, same dye lot) but at a make-an-offer price, mainly to cut the postage cost. Errgh - why didn't I buy all 5 skeins she had? Actually, I think the yarn gremlins have secreted away a skein, as per usual.

I am knitting from both ends of my last skein to see how long the sleeves can get (using the scientific method of squishing the skein in my hand to gauge the volume makes me think there is a good 50% left still). I have an emergency color to finish the sleeves, if I can't get them past my elbow. Some of the 4000+ versions on Ravelry are short-sleeved but I'm just not into that.

Oh, and a secret I have found out about Ravelry? Just like in all catalogues, check the size in the picture. A very many are XXS which make the look very different for sizes more along the norm.

Liberty afghan continues. I want to finish the first repeat before I post an update on Ravelry. Because then I can claim it to be 20% complete. 5 repeats total, one done - you know. Even with this one motif complete, there are about 20 more rows to go -

Then there are the Scandinavian socks. One down - as cushy as I expected and as too big as I thought so they have been assigned to DD#1.

She really hopes I finish this pair, unlike the Christmas 2007 pair. I should frog the Christmas sock and 1/2.

I'm not considering this project promiscuity, just following where my interest takes me. I also have my recent cashmere purchase that I thought would be a neckwarmer . . . the temps are supposed to be in the 50s this week so there might be external factors keeping my knitting on the straight and narrow.

Knitted fantasies

2009-02-09T20:04:00.008-06:00

At the Brooklyn Dry Goods store, where everything was 20% off, I bought magical things:

The green yarn, Jamieson's Jumper Yarn, is a great shade that I don't find around here. Four skeins is 100 gms, 460 yds.

The coral yarn is Lobster Pot Yarns, cashmere -I think I will make the neckwarmer from IW Holiday Knits. I have a brown coat also and while I am not up a creek without a scarf, I think cashmere next to my neck will be just the thing.

I have seen Jan Messent's Knitted Gardens in catalogues for a long time and have wanted that book. A knitted world of flowers and cottages. BDG had a great variety of books that I haven't seen at local yarn stores (Loopy and Nana's), including Knitted Gardens. What I never saw in a catalogue are hedgehogs, squirrels, and doves:

I love this book as much as I thought. My first project will be a pond. I need to find instructions on how to knit a duck and a frog. Surround the pond by a garden of long grass then work into a cottage garden -

The University of Chicago laid off approx 450 people today so besides thinking about knitted gardens, I drank some wine, called April, and took a picture of a cat:

Next step is to have coffee with Julie.

It's not me, it's them

2009-02-06T11:57:00.000-06:00

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct.

It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors.

If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs.

As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human.

And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Wandering but not lost

2009-02-05T18:44:00.004-06:00

Lost is when you don't know how to get home. Or in the case of a trip out of town, how to get back to the hotel.

Instead of Brooklyn Dry Goods, DD#3 and I found this -

We thought the store was in the shadow of the bridge. Turns out the store is a mile in the opposite direction. I found it and my reward was 20% off everything I wanted.

The purpose of our trip to Brooklyn was

To get there, we used

After the day was over, I looked out the hotel window to see

Presents on Ravelry

2009-01-22T20:10:00.005-06:00

If you want to knit a pair of child's mittens, go to Ravelry and enter that search phrase in the Patterns search. If you keep scrolling for, maybe 6 pages, you will see this example:

Mittens
by Kajsa Lindquist
from Nomis #5, Scandinavian Snow Sets
6.5 stitches = 1 inch

I put my picture up and when the pattern was not included in the possibilities, I entered the pattern from this little book. I think I got the booklet with a bag of needles I bought at a garage sale in Americus, IN.

This is the second picture of mine that is the example for a pattern.

The first one was for a neckwarmer named Wayne F by Amy Anderson. I am still surprised that there are not more of her patterns in Ravelry. I bought this pattern and others from Lakeside Fibers in Madison, WI. If a neckwarmer pattern is not available in Wisconsin, where the heck can you find one?

I gave the neckwarmer to my mother in law who visited from Mississippi in Nov. Even though this was before Thanksgiving, the temperature was about 40 degrees and all she had was an Army jacket. Brrr

I will probably never see this again but I still have the cashmere I bought at the same time. I might make a different Amy Anderson pattern. And post it on Ravelry.

Snow, snow, snow

2009-01-11T15:21:00.005-06:00

It's been snowing since Thursday night. This weather makes me want to bake bread. That's what we did in 1977 when my parents and 5 kids were snowbound for 2 weeks. Baked up all the flour, sewed up my mother's fabric stash, and used up all the toilet paper. Then some farmers cleared the road and all the adults headed for the bar.

No one in Chicago gets stuck for very long, especially now that Richie has backed off his plan to plow the side streets only during regular working hours in order to sock the money away for the Olympics. Our sidewalks are kept cleared by the janitor with his snowblower and different grounds crews for the UC and parking facilities with snowplows on their Gators. Living on a bus route means the street in front is plowed as a main artery.

Regardless, the snowflakes blowing sideways outside the windows made me think I needed warmth and good smells in the apartment. I baked applesauce bread and made a pot of black-eyed peas using the roasted chicken from earlier in the week. I wanted new wool socks, and these would be perfect if I could use the Paton's Kroy (Gentry Grey)I got for Christmas.

I disappointed myself on Friday night by not finding the project of my dreams - I almost started the Yarn Harlot's Keystone socks - but then just before bedtime, I found Scandinavian Socks in The Little Box of Socks. Just the thing! Combined with Regia 4 Fach Haltbar and the sock is knitting up very cushy. I am tempted to make a sleeve instead.

But starting a project at 10pm is not a good idea. I guess I decided to go with the women's large/men's regular size, which turned out to be a bad idea when I thought the Lacy Rib socks would be for me. As I started the heel flap on 35 sts, I began to think these socks would be too big. DD#1 thinks the socks are pretty. Now she has a new pair on the way.

2009 FO#1

2009-01-08T18:34:00.004-06:00

What more can I say? Conceived and finished in the same week! Baby Maggie has outgrown 2 sweaters that I intended for her. If I mail these tomorrow, these mittens will fit and be appropriate for the season!

From Scandinavian Snow Sets, Bonnet and Mittens project. Size 3 dpn, using Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift Sunrise and Sand.

Since I finished two UFOs on my list, I wanted to reward myself with knitting that has not been well-aged. I wish I could find the trim I started for the Tree of Life afghan.

Day 2 and I'm keeping my resolution

2009-01-02T16:52:00.006-06:00

In an effort to finish more in 2009, I reached deep into the pile of knitting projects that have accumulated and the elves have not finished. So much time and yarn and so little to wear!

I assembled Audrey (Louisa Harding). Made for DD#3 who then told me she doesn't wear hand knits I think she decided to adopt it after all when she saw what kind of a life the vest faced if I wear it. So much promise in my imagination but, alas, too small for me in reality.

The Wool Gathering #76, Guernsey Pullover, lacked one sleeve. Knit from the bottom up, split at the underarms for the detail on the yoke, then finished with the sleeves knit from the top down.

I bought all the Filatura di Crosa 501 that Nana's Knitting Shop had on hand but the math told me I was one skein short. I will never believe the math again! I thought I would have to go with 3/4 length sleeves but the way the sweater turned out with droopy shoulders, the sleeves are comfortable. Next time I walk the fine line between ample and not enough yarn, I hope I remember to cast on using a provisional cast-on so I can work the interesting bits (yoke and sleeves), then work the boring stockinette stitch with the flexible sizing (body length and possibly circumference). I am fascinated with the Indian Corn stitch. I had hoped to finish off the sleeves with that detail also.

My new year's resolution

2008-12-29T14:27:00.004-06:00

I resolve to knit more in 2009. No, I resolve to finish more in 2009. That might reduce the number of bags and baskets in the living room.

And bags, baskets, and boxes in the bedroom.

The corollary is that I have to start fewer projects. And buy less yarn.

Projects listed under "Und Yarnerbits 2008" that will carry over into 2009 will be

Fireside Stocking: the bloom fell off the rose as Christmas drew nearer and other projects took my time. I finished the Jerry stocking by Christmas #2 so I feel like I haven't missed any deadline.

Yank: seems to be living up to its burly name and developed some biceps. Although they are sewn in, I can see I need to rip, tink, and then knit again with a smaller needle. I am a little worried that I underestimated my size, given that Ann made a large but sure is smaller than me.

Liberty afghan: I'm afraid this is such a pile of yarn that I have to clear out other piles before it can move to the front. In the meantime, I manage a row or two occasionally before going to bed. It currently resides behind the bedroom door. DH found the behind the door stash about a month ago (a paltry 3 bags full).

Tree of Life afghan: faces a hard high school graduation deadline of late May. I just need to knit the border and attach it. This project will be joined by another high school graduation afghan that so far is only in my head.

My fall back plan is that if DD#3 goes to college, I can store/hide the piles in another closet.

Knitting on the Christmas tree

2008-12-14T13:29:00.007-06:00

This is as much of a tree that the family will let me have. If I wasn't getting the full 7' of tree, I hesitate to get out all the boxes of ornaments from the hall closet. They are piled high and come out in a carefully considered manner. On the tree are those ornaments lying around the house, including, not because I missed them in the packing up last year but because I ordered them in Oct, is the full set of Franklin Habit ornaments. They seem to be sold-out on CafePress.com so wait to see what he comes up with for the 2009 version -

The red and gold balls are some of the ornaments that Julie made this year. From clear balls to opulence. I just love them.

With such a small tree, I guess my job is easy. There is not much room for presents underneath.

The stockings will be hung by the chimney with care

2008-12-09T18:45:00.005-06:00

Here is the Jerry stocking - Schoolhouse Press Knit-Along #1.

I made this for the DH who refuses to wear knits of any kind as they make him too warm. What is a knitter to do? A Christmas stocking, to be brought out and placed on the mantle for goodies from Santa Claus. DH has nothing but overboiled resentment for the time and concentration this took.

KnitPicks Palette (ivy, red, cream), size 3 needles.

And one for me - the Fireside Stocking - Kate Gilbert, Interweave Holidays 2007. Made as part of the class offered by Nana's Knitting Shop.

Cascade 220, size 6 needles.

Once I got the colors within range of what I wanted, this became an exciting project. The temptation is to keep going through the rounds to see the gradient but I had to put it aside for a bit in order to make the mittens (see below).

I'm not a fan of the yellow through the first set of red snowflakes so I won't repeat that going up the leg.

Please, may I have some more?

2008-12-01T20:42:00.007-06:00

My favorite blog has become as still as mine. Maybe if I post some knitting, I will get some in return.

Made another mitered square hanging towel. The yarn turned out to be more pastel than I thought. Evocative of a candy necklace.

Bought this at Books a Million (DuPont Circle) and made these in hand-dyed yarn (Green Apple) that I bought at YarnCon 2007. The socks are currently in the wash (in the lingerie bag on cold with the jeans).

I thought I would make 10 pairs of mittens for the church sale on December 6. I should have found 9 other people to make one pair each. Tooo boring, even when I mixed it up.

Top down mittens. Can you guess which one was first? This is the BEST way to make mittens. Just like top up socks but, you know, a thumb and no heel. Wool-Ease, paprika on size 4 dpn.

Started these on the plane. Combination of Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns and the vintage Scandinavian Snow Sets by Kajsa Lindquist. These will definitely go to the St. Thomas Christmas Bazaar on Saturday. I think I can finish the thumb. Wool-Ease green and wheat, size 4 dpn.

Not so sure about these. A bit idiosyncratic, even when made according to the instructions. Wool-Ease grey and purple, size 4/5 dpn.

There is a lot more where that came from. I haven't been blogging but I have been knitting.

Mitered hanging towel in situ

2008-11-01T13:44:00.004-05:00

I would be too embarrassed to show the towel in vivo.

Another enjoyable knit from Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. Mitered squares keep my interest because I am full of anticipation for the work: knit to the marker, slip, take care of the little job, slip the marker, continue on. Then it's all business back to the beginning. Worry, remember to decrease, keep on movin' on, return to the start. Do it all over again.

Knitting the handle made me hungry for a piece of toffee. Camel (Peaches & Cream).

Button from my heirloom fruitcake tin of buttons.

Note to self and others. The varigated yarn (Sugar and Cream, Painted Desert) did not have sufficient yardage for the full MDKOL pattern so I began the contrasting color early. I have plans to make more, specifically a towel with all P/C yarn.

Which means I need more yarn.

Knittin' with your noggin

2008-10-25T22:20:00.003-05:00

We all use needles of different sizes and yarn made from animal, vegetable or mineral but not all of us use our brains to knit. I forge ahead, step by step through the instructions. More times than I care to admit have I moved to the next step in the directions, nay, phrase, only to find out I was supposed to do something at the same time. Right?

I might have become smarter. I definitely read the whole pattern for Yank, because I think I have read the whole book. I LOVE this book. I might make everything in this book (no, wait, not the mohair shawl - no offense). I wanted to start the right front of Yank and heard the warning bells as I read the instructions: "Work as for the left front . . . "

NOooo! WrOonnNG! There are stitches to set up the seam (besides reading the pattern, I have sewn the left seam - down below, on the cleanish dining room table) that would be knit on the band side if one works "as for the left front." There is a big clue in the picture on pg. 32. Two beautiful purl stitches snuggled up against the right band (honest - turn yourself away from the picture, pretend you have an orange in the hand on the same side as the picture - right front). The k1, p1, k1 in the directions for my size will not achieve that look. Doesn't take a math genius - 3 different stitches would not be the same as 1 different, 2 same stitches.

Go ahead and continue on to read pg. 33. Awesome.

I never do this

2008-10-12T10:52:00.006-05:00

What, you may ask? Have a clean spot this big on the dining table? Take pictures of knitting this early on a Sunday morning?

Assemble knitting as I go.

But I have also never knit a left front (for an adult) that starts with 30 stitches, then decreases to FEWER. Is this going to fit?

I started with a sleeve, my gauge swatch. Looked good, even a little capacious. The back was as fun and quick to knit but I got worried that there might be a width issue, shall we say. The yarn is bouncy (Blackberry Ridge, medium weight) but a stretchy bottom is not the look I'm going for.

Next step had to be a front.

There is still a 5-inch button band.

Yank, Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, pp. 28-32.

Six of 7

2008-10-10T19:17:00.000-05:00

Or let sleeping cats lie:

Ann Shayne pulled out my veil stitches

2008-10-06T16:52:00.005-05:00

Rilly!

I went to the Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines book signing at Loopy Yarns on Friday, sadly sans camera. I determined to finish the Monteagle Bag before I got there. Although I knit later the night before than I ever did to finish a Christmas project, I had most of the handle still to go.

The book signing was wonderful. I visited LY a little while ago, picked up a couple more books, including MDKOL, because I got my $10-off email, so I have seen the new store. It's great. Tucked in a little alcove are the books and a work table - which is where Ann Shayne sat among knitted treasures (the Margaret sweater, Fern, a Kiki Mariko rug, the mohair shawl whose name I don't want to know, both Coaty Coats, the socks). Ann wore her Perfect Sweater. She was talking to Franklin Habit. And Mary Neal Meador was on a stool. Bonne Marie Burns was wandering around the store.

I brought all the books I knew to have a Mason-Dixon reference*: MDK1, Knit Lit the 3rd Pg 169), and the latest. She signed all of them.

As this was a grand re-opening, I also saw some friends, chatted, petted yarn, bought yarn, wandered back to the alcove where I realized who Mary Neal Meador was (asked her to sign the Margaret pattern).

My plan was to hang out until it was time to meet DD#1 who was working nearby. That worked, because I scored the chair near the stairs and worked some more on the Monteagle Bag handle. Flashbacks of the Circle of Fun rug, believe me. Garter stitch handle, to be stretched to 20" or until the yarn runs out.

For the third time, I went into the alcove, holding forth my prize. A fistful of green linen yarn, an abbreviated bag. I ran out of yarn so I did only one row of veil stitch. Veil stitch is the most tedious stitch since the right, no left, no right, no left cross stitch. You know what I mean.

I said "I won!" Ann was excited and very nicely talked about the yarn (Lana Gatto, turns out to be 70% viscose, 30% linen - does that make it viscose yarn?) and then started to tug really hard to pull out the veil stitches. With authority. She said one knitter told her cans of peaches in heavy syrup also did the trick to mostly pull out the stitches. I found a massive can of garbanzo beans that we bought for really cheap at CostCo.

This is a great book. I spent some more time with the patterns and text this weekend. Just let me say "Stash Buster."

*When I went to the Yarn Harlot signing so long ago, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee said I should bring all the books I have, not just the book(s) bought at the book-signing store. Hey! She coined kinnear as a verb! She must be right!

And a shout-out to Kay! So sorry the Cub hex reached so far to include you! Hugs to the man, but tell him to pay a little attention to your travel plans when he has a crisis.

Happy birthday to me!

2008-09-29T18:03:00.005-05:00

DD#2, who doesn't get any play on this blog any more, sent me a birthday present from Denmark. And if my birthday hadn't been on a Sunday, I might have got it right on time. I don't know where she gets that!

Black licorice. She went to a movie and I asked her if they served popcorn. She could smell it but didn't see it. The black licorice made an impression on her, though, because she is so repulsed by it. I likes it a lot.

Yarn: Duo, 540m. 2 skeins. Wow. A berry purple and a grape purple. I took about 20 pictures that were only variations of dark. I also got a mystery hank (no label) that I have asked about. Very exciting!

Also two brochures of Danish knitting projects. Not the patterns but I bet I could figure them out. Babies, children, adult men and women. Love it, love it, love it.

Fast forward to September

2008-09-10T18:04:00.008-05:00

Not necessarily in that order.

Monkey, aka Princess Mononoke, is lucky #7. DD#1 rescued her from the middle of 61st St. Good thing the price of gas is too high for most and the volume of traffic has dropped to almost nothing! We were eating dinner one night, with the windows open, when we all tuned in to a high-pitched mew. I denied the possible existence of a kitten in distress and proclaimed it a seagull. The others recognized the sound and DD#1 took an agonizingly long time to run down the little hall, out the 3 doors to the sidewalk and across the street. It was a tiny kitten too small to have dropped off the curb and walked to the middle of the street. We don't know how she happened to be in the middle of the street. But then she was named and won a place in our clowder. Her Bengal heritage is evident in her high energy. Hopefully we won't have to get a cat wheel.

On June 18, I bought Elsbeth Lavold wooly silk (silky wool?) to make a sweater. I was in an air-conditioned meeting, remembering I would be in another air-conditioned meeting for 2 weeks, when I decided what I really needed was a suitable sweater. I knew I did not want to knit in cotton again. My Yarn Harlot shell stretched. Maybe I made a size too big. So disappointing. At any rate, I took the project with me on the car ride to Pittsburgh to pick up DD#2 and her assorted boxes, suitcases, and bags. She sublet an apt for the summer in Chicago. She's now in Denmark for the semester so all that stuff in in the basement. I did a good amount of the sweater in the 10+ or so hours I had free to knit. The sweater is not perfect; maybe should have used smaller needles and adjusted the numbers rather than move up to match the gauge. The yarn is close to perfect though. I bought more in a deep blue and I'll make another sweater, using a more suitable pattern. I didn't meet my self-imposed deadline of 7/22 because

I then remembered I had signed up for the Vintage Handbag exhibit at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival. All stop to make the handbag. For the $5 exhibit fee, I got a copy of the vintage crochet Coats and Clark handbag pattern. Above is what I submitted, although it was intended to be my prototype - work the project according to the instructions because what I had really envisioned was a knitted beaded number, suitable for the prom. Knitting with beads is not the same as knitting with yarn. This is crochet with the starburst(ish) sewn on afterwards. Flashback to my 4-H days. I intended to line the bag according to instructions and find magnetic closures. Instead, it's sewed shut at the square beads and I stuffed it with paper from the shredder. Maybe if I actually use it I will put the finishing touches on. Carol Cassidy-Fayer, whom I have never met, is working on details to put the exhibit on the road. I hope it moves closer to Hyde Park than the 60 miles distance to Crystal Lake.

In between these projects, and the Tree of Life afghan, and a friend's health crisis, and taking the 2-wk session at the end of July, I also committed (to myself, but that's binding as well), to a shawl for the Afghans 4 Afghans summer project. Kay Gardiner, God bless her, posted the project on Mason-Dixon Knitting. 500 rectangle shawls for new mothers at a hospital somewhere in Afghanistan - doesn't matter - new mothers! The project description suggested frogging an abandoned project - eureka! I have grey Lopi Lite in surplus from the days I thought you calculated yarn by the weight instead of yardage. I got about 2X the amount needed for the sweater I made. Too much that turned out to be an uninspiring color, too wooly, and not suitable for anything else. I worry the yarn is too scratchy for anyone to wear next to one's face, but I am convinced it will find a perfect match. The sweater I made from the wool is windproof. Feathers and fan pattern, kept knitting to about 77" long, knitted across the width, instead of along the length as in the suggested pattern. After getting it wet to block, the yarn softened so it will probably only get softer. My friend Julie also made a shawl (much prettier and better yarn) and is cited on the KAL: http://afghansforafghanskal.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html (Keep going until you see "Woolgathering.")

On the needles:
another crazy charity project from Mason-Dixon: hats for Innocence smoothie. A UK group, Age Concern, receives 50p for every tiny little hat sent to them. Their goal is L500,000 this year. I'm thinking a good Midwestern sunbonnet.

socks a la Cat Bordhi. For the free and easy knitter, she has a new recipe for knit as you go socks with many variation. New Pathways for Sock Knitters is magical. Stitches Midwest 2008.

Pinwheel sweater for DD#1. When a loved one turns to me and says, sheepishly, that she really wants a sweater like one I knitted before, I have to jump in the car and buy the yarn. Not the most expensive project but it sure shocked DD#1 at how much yarn can cost.

And so much more -

Eleanor Roosevelt knit in public

2008-06-17T13:13:00.006-05:00

PBS ran the Eleanor Roosevelt episode on American Experience. If she was sitting outside Valhalla or at a table next to FDR, she was knitting. I wonder where all those projects went?

She was allowed to knit on the plane

I'm watching for the 2009 Eleanor Roosevelt Knit-In:

Nothing so precious

2008-05-07T22:01:00.007-05:00

There is nothing more precious to a knitter than a gift of hand-knitting. Who knows better how much time and talent goes into such a treasure?

From my (blog-free)friend April in Sockotta, cotton with elastic

Kitchner toes!

Wearing these comfortable socks make me realize that I relied too much on the elastic in the pair I made. As I have NOT kitchner-ed the toes, I can frog back to the toe decrease and add a little length.

I love these socks!

The silver-lined glass is half full

2008-04-27T16:14:00.009-05:00

I got tickets #21-22 to attend the Yarn Harlot's reading and book signing sponsored by Nana's Knitting Shop last Friday. I was at the Oak Lawn Hilton at 6pm, got invited to be part of Nana's Team and sit in the front row, had tea from Argo as a gift - alas. We know how the story ends.

I started, knit, and finished the Lacy Top by Cabin Fever so I had a handknit to wear. Cascade Pima Tencel, just about 545 yds of color #7013 (needles size 6&7). I wore it to work with brown pants but the weight of the yarn, I am convinced, stretched it - the top of my bra showed under my arms. I bought a t-shirt at Target to be presentable to her Harlotess. Trish suggests washing it to pull it back into shape. I even steam blocked it, to make the YO pop in the pattern.

//picture to come//

Of course I paid a visit to the yarn shop beforehand. I have activated my membership in the sock club with the black/white Fixation. The simplicity appeals to me. I think I will try the Fixation on Lace pattern in Knitting circles around socks. I'm curious if the black smudges will line up with the lace diamonds.

The bit on the needles above was to pass the time on Friday

On the theme of socks, I prepared a new project to work on at the event, using the Froebe yarn I bought last fall.

Home industry, Chicago area. Buy local! Toe-up, this was begging for feather and fan. I forgot to make notes to bring so I saunter up to Trish, to ask her what the sequence is. Feather and fan! I just need the multiple and where to begin (YO or K2tog?) Little did I know that she was struggling under the weight of knowing SPM was still on the tarmac in Toronto. After 6pm, Chicago time. And SPM had plans to land at O'Hare. Trish briefly told me her brain was too full at the moment; I looked around for the writing on the wall. Instead, I spied the yarn's creator, Rebecca Froebe, who was especially delighted to see her product in the wild. Her mother (and business partner?) was also at the door. There are new colors coming out around May 1. Less orange.

As the hysteria was subsiding from Trish's system (she did a great job walking around, talking to the group who had become her guests), we met a mom with her baby from Joliet. The mom was wearing the Seascape shawl. Trimmed in, as Trish pointed out - feather and fan. Turns out the multiple is of 6/6/6=18 and the count for the instep of my sock is more like 30. I found the horseshoe pattern. The yarn is striping precisely

and is working with the pattern in just the way I envisioned. I will work with this yarn again!

Finally, a little bit of yarn for babies. I have extra pima that I thought would make nice baby burp cloths. One of my students might be having 3 babies so I needed more. Voila - not such baby colors but also gender-neutral.

Maybe there will be a reschedule. Maybe I will go. But I have plenty to go on with, so I'm not devastated either way.

Something new to look at

2008-04-05T15:58:00.008-05:00

I have spent the last two months knitting, although it's not apparent to anyone who is not privy to my living room. The cats know I have been knitting and some have tasted the yarn. DH knows I have been knitting because he has been commenting on the accumulation of bags by the recliner and the dust bunnies that apparently only I can vanquish with the vacuum. DD#3 knows I have been knitting because she has informed me she does not wear handknits. Maybe she doesn't.

Why project monogamy is a waste of time.

December 1 - the point where I realized my mistake. Very expensive yarn, worked carefully by alternating two colorways to make a variation on EZ's Bog Jacket. The variation is that I knit it from the top down, or from the bottom of the sleeve seam, over the shoulders, and down the back and around the front. I wasn't entirely sure that I had enough yarn so I postulated that making a slightly shorter jacket in reverse was better than knitting according to instructions only to discover would not be enough (discontinued) yarn to finish the project. Well, as one can see, this jacket might have worked if I hadn't planned for the wingspan of a California condor. Seems clear that there is enough yarn to make the jacket according to the impeccable instructions already worked out by Elizabeth Zimmermann. What was I thinking?

Lorna's Laces Chunky Swirl in Vera and Watercolor from Nana's Knit Shop. Whatever

Therapy

To get that bad taste out of my mouth, I bought some books on half.com, including America Knits and YarnPlay. America Knits is a compendium of wisdom and projects that could be the one and only book a knitter could have in her library. Any of the projects would be satisfying and keep one happy for a lifetime. I have plans to make the Latvian mittens with my $3 Dale of Norway yarn. I look at the pictures and plot my escape from reality. But YarnPlay has projects to scratch the itch now. One bathmat as seen in the wild:

4 skeins each of Sugar-n-Cream Potpourri Ombre and Countryside Ombre knit double-stranded on size 10.5 (I return over and over again to this colorway). The project did not turn out exactly but it's square when there aren't big wet footprints splotching it down.

What DD#3 doesn't wear.

I bought yarn for this project last year, when she was enthusiastic about me making her something. She picked the sweater vest from Louise Hardings Winter's Muse Classics (Audrey). Now she doesn't want it. A small project, with great interest at the beginning, then stockinette on 'til morning. I resisted adjusting the pattern to knit in the round. A little trim at the neck and armholes. If she still doesn't want it when it's beautiful, maybe my sister would like it.

Frog Tree, alpaca sport, from Loopy Yarns supposed to be on 3 and 6 but I think my gauge called for smaller.

A little snack

Inspired but unmoved at the time, by the afghan Kay organized for the Oliver raffle, I have begun to knit my leftover sock yarn into 4" squares. I can't say I will ever assemble these squares but I would have them handy to pass on to anyone who wants to make an afghan, for instance. Cast on 3, knit and M1 at the end of each row until the straight edge equals the required length. Then knit within 3 stitches, K2tog, knit 1. I remember that Kay especially appreciated knitters who slipped the first stitch of each row and blocked each square. This is yarn left over from Christmas present socks to DD#1 and DD#3. Maybe she wears stealth handknits.

I have other projects in progress but it seems I have 2 months to work on them before I post again. ;-)

A small diversion

2008-02-07T21:06:00.000-06:00

I have wanted to make this sweater for awhile.

I first heard of the pattern during Wendy's Summer of Socks. At some point she took a break and made an adult-sized pinwheel sweater. A picture of the sweater with the free pattern by Elann is here. The sweater is made in one piece, which satisfies the prime directive. I added a simple crochet trim. The child's size should span infancy to toddlerdom, great economy for the time it takes to knit (all of Saturday and Sunday), but I made this little jewel with Plymouth Encore DK which did not match gauge. This sweater will fit baby Margaret through the summer I hope, an improvement on the original sweater I made for her last spring which was outgrown before I returned to assembling it. I plan to attach the second sleeve and give this original sweater to a new mother whose baby was born last weekend.

This little pinwheel sweater was a small diversion from my main project: the Bog Jacket knit from the top down. I ran into a problem connecting the arms and body so I have decided to knit the two parts separately. As I might run out of yarn, I plan to attach the two pieces in sort of an i-cord seam. We will see.

The many stitches of love

2008-02-02T10:48:00.000-06:00

Some people in Nebraska don't knit. They make quilts. I brought one back for me:

and one for my sister Margo:

There are many similiarities with knitting: these are made for warmth, there is a broad range of creativity, the project can be a stash-buster (or not). She who dies with the most (fabric) wins!

But think of the stitch count. In the Winter 2008 Schoolhouse Press newsletter, there is an estimate of the number of stitches in a BSJ. My quilt is about 68x82 with quilting every 1 inch; Margo's is more like 88x108. The quick-minded can calculate the number of stitches, made with needle and thread. Then there is the applique, the stitches holding the flowers and the blocks together, and throw in the embroidery for extra credit. Stitches made with love, every one of them.

Warm hands, warm heart

2008-01-21T18:44:00.000-06:00

I have done a lot of knitting over these weeks since Christmas Eve and although there aren't any pictures, there are some warm hands and feet. Instead, here is a picture of four generations taken on July 4, 1987. My sister and I will journey to Nebraska to my grandmother's funeral tomorrow. Seemed the least we could do as Geraldine McCormick Smith, at age 96, had made the trip for her daughter's funeral 2 years ago. She wanted to make 100. She would have been 99 on March 1.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T19:32:00.000-06:00

And one stocking at the mantel

2007-12-13T17:30:00.000-06:00

Two of the daughters don't want a Christmas tree this year. We are a bit cramped but we always managed before. As DD#2 isn't home with a boyfriend to put it all together, I will accede to no tree this year. I could have put these ornaments on it:

Some Christmas Fiddle Faddle done in cotton thread, some snowflakes from Knitted Snowflakes (Jeanette Crews Designs).

But I can still decorate:

At my office:

On the door:

At the window:

And I will put one stocking on the mantel:

So that means Santa Claus won't have much to fill this year.

The menorah pillow!

2007-12-08T10:00:00.000-06:00

I have to post this before it becomes Hanukkah present #8:

Front:

and deconstructed:

Three-needle bind-off on the top:

Which was tedious so I soon moved on to a crochet hook:

And what to do about all these ends - you know, the ends are invisible when the pillow is all put together.

Final step:

There are 4 buttonholes on the back. Do I conquer I-cord to make the knots that are in the directions,

go through my heirloom tin of buttons. The pillow cover is machine-washable but not if I put use these old buttons.

or go with new buttons.

Specs:

Menorah pillow, Handknit Holidays produced by Melanie Falick, made in Heirloom, shade 725, by Australian Yarn Company, purchased from The Yarn Exchange, DeKalb IL.

Edited to add: I found reference to not finishing this pillow in time for gift-giving the previous year all the way to the bottom of this archive. Obviously this has been on my mind.

Gifts retroactively

2007-12-04T18:14:00.000-06:00

I am a bad gift giver. I made Peggy socks one year and after that I just couldn't muster the energy - another year I made shortbread. She doesn't celebrate Christmas but she is always very good about giving presents. This year I am celebrating Hanukkah for her.

Picture the yarn as ballband warshrags. A vivid pink/pink sherbet combo and another in maroon, variegated blue with a dash of sunshine. That was the present today.

Day 2 - 4: a felted oven mitt in tribute to Da Bears, potholders from the STA Holiday Expo, socks that I made coincidentally on two circulars (I mean at the same time, not as it happens). Julie made the ornaments for the holiday expo. I priced them very reasonably and bought two. April bought one also. I'm not giving the ornaments as Hanukkah gifts.

I know there are 8 days. I have mittens on my list. Two more days are Saturday/Sunday. I'm thinking some baked goods to take along - but I really like this box.

Day 8 has to be the menorah pillow. That's the albatross around my neck. I need to find a pillow form, fabric for the back, and the time/energy to sew it up. I think the best present is supposed to be first. As I'm not a card-carrying Jew, I'm saving the best for last. This way I have more time to procrastinate. As if 2 years hasn't been enough.

Not all who are lost are wandering

2007-11-27T13:15:00.000-06:00

Who needs pictures of yarn when one can put up a picture of a gingerbread house.

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

What Holiday Food Are You?

And I can take the opportunity to think about camping -

Knitting retreat

2007-11-24T15:37:00.000-06:00

We spent Thanksgiving at my sister's house with her in-laws. This was all well and good - Derek was home on his way to a posting in Seoul, South Korea; Katie brought Talon over after a while; Larry was really happy to see Claudia's sister. The others were very quiet and we ate dinner.

Then the home movies began. For instance Christmas 1991. This is the pre-Claudia era which showed me the genetics of Katie (her mother, the ex) and how Jordan has really come out of her shell - the family cackled at her pre-k/kindergarten assembly where her teacher pulled her out of the chorus after she started sobbing. Cody used to be blond and Derek can really hustle up the basketball court.

I found my knitting bag and started the stocking:

There is exactly 1 mistake in each repeat. KnitPicks Fingering Weight, Ivy, Cream and Red. Very nice yarn.

One little sweater

2007-11-18T18:18:00.001-06:00

I went to the Treasure Tea after church today - apparently we are supposed to have our donations to hand in. Really?

So after meeting Juanita and conspiring to start a needle club so we can work on hand-worked donations all year - still working on the name - and nearly destroying someone else's donations of glassware - these were placed in a 2-part box that I didn't quite understand at the time - I went home and lined up the donations.

Still have to sew up the tops of 2 teddy bears, decide if I want to buy more yarn to finish the tomten jacket that I made to use up a rogue skein of yarn, and ponder the possibility of more Christmas ornaments.

I put the kill on the Baby Surprise jacket. I couldn't find any buttons in my tins and containers so I crocheted big yellow blobs that I think are a nice contrast to the purple. Scotty isn't too sure about it all -

Stalled

2007-11-12T19:13:00.001-06:00

I have such an appreciation for small pleasures because my life is balanced between a pair of mittens that can take 3 days (if I didn't have to go to work)

and the UFOs bursting from bags at the end of my bed:

EPS sweater, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Astrakhan:

I bought this yarn at Nana's after a night of two-color knitting. $4 a skein! This is almost finished because I got VERY FIRM with myself and forbade myself from starting anything new until this sweater was DONE! An adventure because I didn't use a pattern - read KWT, measured, figured, swatched, cast-on, knit, became fearful and put it down, then got brave again because I re-read KWT, and have almost finished. I had in mind a v-neck, casual (as casual as merino, microfibre and cashmere can be) drapey sweater. The v-neck was too scary to attempt so I have fashioned a bit of a boatneck. Really I was following the directions for the regular crewneck but EZ also says to soldier on, it's only knitting. So true! And this fits! The 3/4 sleeves aren't just a fashion statement. I knew I didn't have enough yarn for the full length sleeve.

I was surprised when I pulled this out of the bag. First, because I had forgotten about it and then, when I reacquainted myself with Wool Gathering #76, I thought surely I had done more on this sweater. I remember being really excited about the candy corn motif. I think I am to the point where the guernsey-ness can be started but it looks kind of short. I should measure again. This is also a loose pattern by Meg Swanson - measure, figure, swatch, jump right in. I am scared by the arm gussets but maybe have worked that out through some visualization. And referring to another gansey pattern I have worked. This might be next, after Blue.

Because otherwise it would be Dale. Again. Really, you don't need a better picture. My first attempt at colorwork, I wrote about the pain already. I have been felled by not reading the full pattern first because there is the phrase "and at the same time, decrease . . ." I ripped the top solid color out 1 time when I realized my mistake. There is some interesting seed-stitch texture so unfortunately the decreases need to be absorbed proportionately. Did some figuring, knit all the way a second time and have 7 extra stitches on the left side. Not enough real estate to hide that, as they say; not enough fiddling done, as others say. Will have to rip it again. Third time's the charm. But I paid full price for this stinkin' yarn, not to mention the class fee and the cost of the book, so I plan to pay another small fee and ask Trish to tell me how to fix it. Err.

But what I really want to make is Eli's Christmas stocking.

Joy in the little things

2007-11-07T18:04:00.001-06:00

I have taken a liking to the small things in life.

Flowers on a wall,

kelp washing ashore,

blue sky over Mission San Diego de Alcala. Sure.

Whipped out these little stockings in the same night after the Christmas bazaar lady asked me if I can make Christmas ornaments.

My BSJ, tomten, teddy bears and mystery square afghan won't be enough??

This little purse, by InKnitiative in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, was a reward to myself for putting together the retreat in September. Worked exactly as expected at the SfN reception last week.

Hung it over my wrist to hold my cell phone, wallet and hotel keycard. Last year I hid my backpack with wallet under the projector table and someone pilfered $15. Thieving neuroscientist!

Coffee and cake

2007-08-28T13:53:00.002-05:00

I went to Julie's house this morning to pick up my prize, a cake tape measure. I took advantage of my close proximity and looked through them all and picked the one I liked best. See how it has Christmas ivy on the sides?

We talked of knitting needles and camping trips, of frosting and gypsies. I brought my knitting bag and had a one-on-one show and tell.

To be felted into pot holders for Christmas presents:

Renditions of Magic Friends (Knitter's Stash) for the STA Christmas bazaar:

and, you know,

We discussed my dissatisfaction with the puffiness of my ballband warshrag (it's not puffy at all) and finally decided that's the way it will be. I thought I had gone down a needle size or two but apparently only in my mind. This one was done on 4.5, just as the instructions require. My warshrags will always look like this.

I forgot to bring my mittens. Just a thumb to go on the right mitten and I'll get that done before heading north this afternoon.

Seeing them side by side, I recognize the haste I felt with mitten #1. I guess this one will go north with me after all so they aren't such fraternal mittens.

BTW, I am taking these pictures on my dining table and buffet which were yesterday's project. The detritus of years have been cleaned away; shredded or put in it's proper place, which in some cases turned out to be the garbage. Although we moved the buffet in last summer, she inherited some of the piles of its predecessor, the bookcase. For instance, I found correspondence with DD#3's elementary school (2001).

As Lene writes, the fall is the start of my year as well. Being tied to the academic year in my personal life and professional life, this is inevitable. Before leaving Julie's, I confessed I found critters in the flour so next on my list was to clean out the pantry. Julie grew up with a biannual chore of cleaning cupboards, wiping shelves, and throwing away expired food. In my family, biennial was too often. So using this rule of thumb (I have to have a rule of thumb to guide my way), I threw out all expired food. Yessir, yessir, three bags full. There are no pictures, but let's just say I have saved my survivors some work. And my survivors know what I mean.

Converse 5K

2007-08-17T12:06:00.000-05:00

I am not a runner but I will take pictures of people who run. DH and DD#3 ran the Converse 5K to honor the memory of the hometown:

The gathering (some of these people are walkers):

Half-way there:

Done:

23:29

28:40

I was sweating just watching them.

Recuperating with wool

2007-07-31T14:28:00.000-05:00

Now I have a summer cold so I am sitting in my dining room, working away at my pile of UFOs to the tune of The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog (Elizabeth Peters). I had to drag myself to work yesterday because the secretary had already made plans not to be in the office and someone had to sign off on the pizza guy's tip for his delivery to the student talks! Job security doncha know.

I have been working on some Norwegian mittens:

but I needed to have something a little less complicated so I began and finished a scarf in sand stitch - I compulsively made tick marks on a notepad for each row so I got the purl/knit order right the first time -

over 16 stitches on size 15 needles. Not long enough for the ooh la la flip but I think will be nice and warm when I need it.

I bought this yarn at Knitter's Niche (Belmont/Southport) at the same time as the yarn I am using for the mittens. The owner couldn't believe I was thinking winter gear in July so I let her in on my little secret that I was bored to death with my sweaters.

The wool felted and other recovery efforts

2007-07-24T19:50:00.000-05:00

Would you look at this! Can you guess what went wrong? I read about the Knitty French bag.

I spent a couple of happy days, mindlessly knitting around and around on my size 13 Addi Turbo that I bought at the thrift store, or maybe on eBay as part of a larger purchase, using up some handspun sent by my friend April (the handspinner's ex-MIL wanted it OUT of her house) and some grey allegedly virgin wool that I did buy at the thrift store topping it all off with a little more handspun which was my very first eBay purchase - only to pull this out of the washer.

The middle part,which I was going to decorate with some embroidery, did not felt. The thrift store must have switched the label. The top grey was also labelled virgin wool and felted very tightly the first time. I am seriously thinking of a recovery effort. I could cut out the middle, re-knit from the skein that I know will felt, then attach to the top part. The stitches connecting to the middle will still be open. It would be like I felted with a piece of cotton yarn holding the stitches open.

I have also been cleaning off my desk, so to speak:

Moccasin socks for the now ex-boyfriend of DD#2. Inexpert Kitchener stitch seals the bottom. I also took EZ's recommendation and knitted the first row I joined the new color so there was not an inelegant join line in the purl portion of the ribbing. I told DD#2 I was still going to give them to the boy. I need to remember his mother's name, call her, and then explain that I still these to give.

Also, a pair for DD#2:

This is the daughter who dreamed for weeks of the dress she was going to wear for her 2nd grade picture, only to find that the elastic waist hit in an uncomfortable spot. No matter how much she tugged in the 15 minutes she had before she had to catch the bus the dress would not fall where it was supposed to (growth spurt). I talked her into another dress. Now she is in college but I will forever remember that she is very particular about where seams, lines, hems hit. You can barely see from the picture but these are tube socks: no heel, ribbing all around which curls around the sock because there is an off-set every 4 rows so there is no top or bottom to the foot. Even better than reversible socks.

I made the purple gloves for her a while back but the fingers all blew out. I also plan a recovery mission on them. 3-needle bind-off on the private side, I think, instead of pulling the yarn through and tying off.

I have pictures of knitting

2007-06-28T16:55:00.000-05:00

Note the changes to the sidebar!

Exhibit 1: Asymmetrical sweater, finished. My favorite project ever because:

a. the sweater is finished
b. the sweater used stash yarn
c. the sweater is a pattern that is easily memorized
d. the sweater is 98% knit in one piece
e. the sweater is made of nice yarn on big needles
f. the sweater is finished

Pattern: Knitting Nature, Norah Gaughan.

Yarn: Queensland Collection, Kathmandu Aran (merino, silk, cashmere). 12+ skeins (104 yds).

I adjusted the pattern by making the cuffs quite a bit shorter - I didn't think 6" of ribbing would stand the test of time; and correspondingly, I shortened the collar. That was a bit of a mistake, and if I were more of a project knitter, I would fix that, but I can live with this "design element." I might, however, shorten the arms ever so slightly. The sweater is knit in one piece, with the cuffs added on. The other additional knitting and assembly involves the collar and front bands. Ingenious bit of knit engineering. The mother-of-pearl buttons are from the tin of buttons I selected from among my parents' belongings.

And B: one pair of socks. Train to NH - pattern of my own "design" using the toe-up method; basket pattern stitch from The Complete Encyclopedia of Stitchery. I was going for the train-tracks look, vis a vis the name of the socks. Gift yarn from Julie from Patternworks. This stitch is very cushy and if I were more of a project knitter, when I discovered this, I should have used the stitch on the bottom of the foot.

My favorite socks because, again,

a. the socks are finished
b. the socks are made with precious yarn
c. the socks are finished

While not a fan of orange, the small bits endeared themselves to me as I knit - reminded me of carrot. I also learned to appreciate the stripes of dark brown and cream - put me in mind of a yummy dark chocolate filled with a flavored cream. mmmm

Here's one more:

Woo hoo!

I've got pictures of bugs

2007-06-09T14:39:00.001-05:00

These are the 17-year cicadas. I remember the last time the swarm emerged.

There has been only tedious knitting going on around here - the neckband/front bands to the asymmetrical sweater and more on the Train to NH sock. The last slog before the project is done. Though not enough for the slog-along.

The neckband/front bands are knit in one piece in the shape of a U. I finished this last night and tried to overlay it for effect and I see that I need to S T R E T C H the heck out of the collar to fit it around the neck. The asymmetrical-ness of the sweater is the double-breasted effect of the right front being about 30% off center. This takes a mind shift putting the collar on so there was two-fold panic - the shape is wrong and the collar isn't long enough. But I kept looking at the picture, measuring everything, checking on the CO. This too will be fudged and will all come together.

I have begun the ankle on sock #1 so now it's straight on to morning until the skein is gone. The stitch combination that I selected for the train-tracks effect is really cushy. If I were a more conscientious knitter, a product knitter, I would have frogged the sock early on and used the stitch all around the foot. Really cushy. But I hate to rip out. I will enjoy the cushion on the top of my foot when I have tied my shoes too tightly.

Last Sunday we were local tourists and went to Beverly to explore the cicadas. Tremendous noise - August cicadas to another magnitude. But the noise wasn't everywhere. Despite where the holes were, the cicadas seemed to gather in certain trees - the pretty flowering trees which are now budding fruit.

Walking down the street was to experience a bit of the Doppler effect.

I really enjoyed this side trip - DD#2 was in town too so it was a family adventure. I tried to buy yarn but My Sister's Knits was closed. We got a treat at Rainbow Cone -

When the knitting's done, there is still work

2007-05-29T19:23:00.001-05:00

And I don't mean the cuffs and collar. That's still knitting. No - assembly. Sewing up. The asymmetrical sweater has the barest minimum sewing that is probably possible - well, maybe the Dale of Norway sweater will have the least sewing because that is just 6 stitches under each arm but THAT's not going to happen any time soon - even so, I am dragging my feet.

Two days to sew up one side

And I am speaking very firmly to myself about finishing the other side tonight.

I like to knit socks

Do you think that top part looks like train tracks?

But you forgot the sock yarn!

2007-05-24T17:30:00.001-05:00

I've heard this story before. I sat at the kitchen table imagining Station Master Mike and his buddy putting the suitcase on the bus, taking it off the bus, then putting it back on the bus, every day promising that the suitcase will be with loved ones that night. And Marc driving back and forth between the cabin, the dorm, the bus station, the dorm, and then Fort Ticonderoga because the kids have to have fun too! That was the version I got last summer. Knowing the suitcase was still at Union Station makes me enjoy the story even more today.

I love a lost-luggage story with a happy ending.

I lost a suitcase once but it never came back. Somewhere between Atlanta and Belfast NI (UK), the suitcase we borrowed from the MIL/DM went missing with the camera, the library book, the walkman, new clothes, handmade gifts for our hosts, my prescription. I'm sure the contents were sold for a tidy profit in Alabama; we paid dearly for the loss.

The camera also belonged to the MIL. She didn't hold it against (her son) that it was lost. No, the library book was scholarly from Regenstein. Flat $50 charge. At a time that we could have used the money for groceries. New clothes that cost money but more dear was the time and effort to get DH to buy them. The walkman - OMG - would that never be fully mourned! But mostly in the daily phone calls DH insisted I make from the phone booth at Queens University, to my favorite customer service agent who practically had the suitcase in her sight but couldn't forward it on my say-so. To Europe and back again with my purple dress (and what I bought). We loaded ourselves onto the return plane with many plastic shopping bags that we both declared most emphatically that we would not like to check.

Julie forgot to say she visited Patternworks while she was in NH. At the end of her tale, which made me laugh harder and harder (maybe outloud because I am just that kind of friend), she showed me what she got. I picked out

and got its mate for Christmas

Since I could finish the asymmetrical sweater in one sitting, I was just thinking about starting a pair of socks instead. I will call them "Train to New Hampshire."

Knitting pictures

2007-05-09T16:32:00.000-05:00

I guess no one else is going to update this blog but me so I better take the time. This and that from the past month:

Ballband warshrag - faster than socks, it's easy knitting to do in the museum. Stash Sugar and Cream. I might give it to my MIL on Sunday. It is Mother's Day. My friend April visited last weekend. She paid our way into the Art Institute of Chicago so we could hold a knitting camp in the cafe while DD#3 took notes on some sculpture. I think people were laughing at us. April just needed some encouragement on the increases for the sleeve of her first sweater - it's fabulous. She took possession of the slouch socks on Saturday night. Darn, no picture!

Asymmetrical sweater, Knitting Nature. Quite possibly my favorite project of all time. Stash Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran from Stitches and Scones. I have put it aside in order to take care of some other projects but what fun! Instant feedback what with 4.25 st/inch on size 9. I thought I knew the pattern so I made a couple repeats without looking at the chart only to find I forgot to off-set the hexagons. No matter - it's asymmetrical. This sweater meets my renewed rule that there will be little to no assembly. Each side is knit bottom up, with graduated increases to make the sweaters (horizontally) and then joined at the back of the neck where some stitches are cast-on to join the two halves and then the back is knit top down (so there are just side seams - the cuffs and collar are knit on). I think if I make this sweater again, I will start at the back and then work my way to the bottom of the fronts.

A little crafting for others: crocheted squares in the colors of Virgina Tech to be donated to Mosaic Yarn for blankets to be made for families of the victims of that terrible day.

The best reason in the world to knit: most of the Knitted Sweater and Hat (Leisure Arts booklet) for Amy. Stash Plassard from Chix with Stix. I have known Amy the third longest of all the people I stay in contact with. She gave birth to little baby Margaret on Sunday so I have to finish this up and get it in the mail. With the afghan I made for her when she married John in . . . 2001??

A waking dream

2007-04-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

I have many dreams for my knitting - finish all those UFOs, deplete my stash, make an Aran sweater, learn twined knitting. I think I can still wear that green vest I started in 2000 from The Traditional Sweater Book (Madeline Weston) after I rework the button band because I used the next size up needles by mistake. If I make an Aran sweater using the stash of Lion Brand Fisherman WoolEase, that would be one big bag of yarn fewer in the closet.

This morning I discovered that I dream of different knitting - apparently I want to meet Ann Shayne and make a man bag for my husband out of green and white cotton using the ballband warshrag pattern. The Ann Shayne in my dreams had a southern accent but had dark hair cut short, styled in a teased up-do. She and I were talking outside a confessional where a very small young woman was being toyed with by a lap dog. We commented to her that this must happen a lot - being tossed about like a faceless, stuffed squirrel - and she said yes, it's because she is so small. About 18" like an American Girl doll.

My husband came to get me because it was time to go swimming - the pool was in the other half of the building. He was carrying a shoulder bag with his stuff in it. Green and white warshrag pattern with a buttonhole stitched in as part of the pattern.

I don't know what this is telling me. I prefer to keep working on the green guernsey sweater:

Wool Gathering #76. That pattern above the garter stitch is Indian Corn.

My list to the right just got longer.

Of needles and hiking

2007-04-11T21:24:00.000-05:00

Scotty is checking out the second sock of the project that brought me out of my knitting funk. I lost one of the needles somewhere between the curb and the coffee table when unpacking the van after our trip to Brown County, IN. Never fear, Elizabeth Zimmermann encourages knitters not to be so dogmatic in time of need. One can easily substitute an emergency needle of indeterminate size - drastic times call for drastic measures. And I recently completed the inventory of my needle collection so I know I have an amazing set of Crystal Palace bamboo, sz 1-1/2 (2.5). That is plenty close to size 1 (2.0). Julie gave them to me. This is going to work out just fine. The substitute needle gets moved around each section so there is not a bloated row lined up one over the other. And there is that wonder called blocking, or easing after a wash. I don't block socks.

I took the project with me on our short Spring Break vacation to Brown County, Indiana. What you should always take on spring break is your winter coat. Rain and wind, but I got a couple short hikes with the family and one by myself.

Some of the trails were created by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Beautiful limestone bridges and revetments are still in use.

I highly recommend a trip south.

Sock redux

2007-04-01T22:36:00.000-05:00

I came out of my funk when I remembered I have an interesting project to work on. This started out as a top-down sock. Until I had about 3" left to knit and about 1" worth of yarn. That was last October. I have been meaning to rip it out and work the socks toe up.

Steinback Wolle, Strapaz Cotton Effekt from Sit & Knit (New Buffalo, MI). The label is in German so I can't say what the color way is. Slouch socks from Socks, Socks, Socks modified for toe-up. I start the ribbing when I see the end of the skein.

And here is Lupine - wondering why her charms are not inducing me to put a little snack in her bowl.

2007-03-31T16:04:00.000-05:00

I am bored with my knitting right now - two sleeves to work here, frog and re-knit there, get the second sock finished on the other project. Ho hum - where are the mediation knitters when you need them?

Instead, we have the katz:

Charlie,

who seems to prefer looking down over all he can survey.

Oz -

who staged a sit-in to protest the empty water bowls.

There is peace in the kingdom.

Live action knitting

2007-03-25T16:10:00.000-05:00

Maybe I do finish projects, just not ones that I will be wearing.

Above, my own version of reversible socks (knit toe-up with a garter stitch toe and heel and 2-stitch ribbing on the instep, sole and ankle, bind-off using Grandmother's Old Fashioned Purl). Off to DD#1 after I tuck in the ends. She wanted enough over the ankle for a cuff but I don't think I achieved that.

Exhibit #2 is my felted rug. This was an indulgence - I bought the book because this project was on the back cover. I followed all specs, including Brown Sheep Burley Spun wool - even at 25% off at Loopy Yarns, way more than I have ever spent on a single type of yarn.

There is a sad rule about felting - there is no formula to figure out how much shrinkage to expect per size of original knitting. You have to swatch and wash. Err. I didn't do that and the rug turned out fine, except one tiny detail. Perhaps if my pre-felting gauge matched the instructions, I might have been able to squeeze out a second yellow stripe out of the Lamb's Pride - oh well.

A happy rule about felting is that you control the shrinkage - you don't have to run the item all the way through the washer cycle. So hover over your top loader and pull out that wool every so often to make sure your slippers don't shrink to the size of baby booties. I got more shrinkage lengthwise and little width wise. The rug turned out fabulous and is now cushioning my walnut table.

When on vacation, I count

2007-03-20T15:19:00.000-05:00

I don't have a household inventory. I don't know the serial number of our TV or any of the computers; how many plates we have or the number of books we have (however I am aware of the 11 boxes in the basement in addition to those books on the 8 bookshelves in the apt).

I made a knitting needle inventory on Christmas vacation once. I wrote about it on my first blog but Blogger seems to have deleted the entry. I used a piece of orange copier paper that I have been revising occasionally. I was horrified at the number of needles at that time and so I gave away a big handful of mostly mis-matched pairs to the Pine Ridge Reservation and then sold a good portion on eBay (duplicates of duplicates so I don't think I have replaced them). This time I am transferring my figgerin' from the back of the Columbia DVD club letter to my handy-dandy Knit Kard by Nancy's Knit Knacks.

Do you know how many knitting gadgets there are? That's discussion for another day.

I have discovered that I own at least 79 sets/pairs of needles: double-pointed in metal, bamboo and wood; single-pointed, 10 in and 14 in; circular from my early days when I bought my supplies at Woolworth on through quality and price range to the 47" Addi Turbo size 15 that I am saving for when I learn to do the mobius cast-on (I couldn't follow the directions posted from Cat Bordhi's appearance on Knitty Gritty but after finding this set of instructions, I just might put my investment to use).

I seem to favor size 7. There is a whole row of size 7 circulars, 1 pair of 10" single-point, and two sets of double-points, including the set made in bamboo that I bought at Mary Ann's, in the Hyde Park Bank building in 1993.

I found other favorites - there's the set I bought in Belfast (1989) when I made The Sweater for my husband. I have 3 sets of wooden needles that April sent me. I have a couple sets that I consider vintage needles - there is a set that probably weighs 1lb - heavy duty stainless steel, ready to click through a jumper in utilitarian grey wool to fight off the damp English winters. Some curvy plastic needles, a set of groovy bronzy lucite needles.

Now that I know how many needles I have, I don't feel so bad about how many unfinished projects I have.

Knock it off

2007-03-15T17:05:00.000-05:00

I can look at some handcrafted objects and figure out how to make them - simple things like cross stitch and socks. Who hasn't gone to a crafts fair and decided not to buy something because, "Huh, I could make that." But do we ever?

I am making reversible socks but I don't belong to the Socks That Rock club:

Lorna's Lace, 162 Icehouse, superwash sport weight on size 2 dpns. I had to take the needles out of the stockings I started at Christmas time for DD3 from Handknit Holidays. Maybe next year.

These are for DD1 whose feet really are as big as these socks look. We stopped off at Loopy Yarn for a set of size 8 dpn which were only $3. Who would go to a yarn store and only spend $3?? I couldn't convince DD1 to pick out yarn for a sweater (I know she had flashbacks of her elementary school days when I made her pants but all she would say is "it never fits right" and "I don't want to support your UFO habit"). She changed her mind when she found the handpainted yarn (all wool is 25% for a couple more days).

There are lots of NCAA basketball games over the next couple days (a moment of silence for Bobby Knight's Texas Tech team, please).

Good to go other places

2007-03-12T19:34:00.000-05:00

I have been using my blog lately as a portal - clicking on my own links to read Dances With Wool, the Yarn Harlot, check to see if classes are up for Stitches Midwest or the Michigan Fiber Festival. And then I click on Julie's page hoping to see something new and interesting that she has done. While on Julie's page, I click over to Mason-Dixon and Zimmermania.

Not many photos of knitting being taken here.

But I have been knitting. I started this scarf on my day trip to Pittsburgh.

Homespun, size 13 wooden needles, kpkpkp to the end, repeat until the skein runs out. The scarf was sadly too short so I bought another skein. Smacked in the face by another knitting truth: Lion Brand Homespun has dye lots or variations of yarn. I haven't decided what to do with my scarf. Though eminently wrappable au francais mais il y a une probleme. A join line, shall we say.

Anyone with two eyes can see the white and the other white.

2007-02-13T21:22:00.000-06:00

I would love to have a snow day but I walk to work.

If I could stay home, I would bake bread and knit.

And probably sit with the babies.