l33t Kn1tx0r

All In All

2010-02-21T05:10:00.000-08:00

According to Ravelry, the Knitter's Almanac has 19 patterns. Looking through the book, it is hard to say exactly what is a pattern and what is one of EZ's clever ideas in "pithy" form. Trying to conform to a standard, though, of counting as a pattern anything that has a bold-and-capitol-letters heading, I counted 25 patterns. I finished up the year with 25 projects (with one unfinished, and one on hold; though my projects don't exactly match up with the aforementioned defined patterns).

The Knitter's Almanac is a study-at-home course for knitters, in addition to a proto-knitblog (as I've mentioned before), including sweet little stories about Elizabeth's life and history, as well as anecdotes about her design process. There are many clever tips on techniques and best-practices.

I gained confidence with cables and steeking in January. February had lots of practical baby items, though I didn't feel like I learned anything new (others might find the foray into double knitting instructional, or if you haven't tried lace yet, the baby sweater is a perfect start). March was an exercise is endurance for me, it was not techincally difficult but it took a long time (I think this may have been my favorite project)! April scarred the Kitchener stitch into my brain forever. In May I learned more about two-color techniques, and to watch what I'm doing. June had lots of hats, and I learned yellow is not a good color for me (this was incidental, though, not really a part of the Almanac :). In July I learned a proper cast on for center-out shawls. The August projects were not particularly great, and I branched out to other pattern sources that month (thank you Knitty and Knitspot!). In September I re-learned the lesson from May... that while humans are symmetrical, you can't just knit two and expect them to fit. In October I found out that I am not as clever as I thought; October is the only project from The Almanac where I've declared a cease-fire. November had an innovative sock pattern, and maybe some day I'll knit #2. And December..., well, I didn't knit the December project. I thought the Wishbone sweater uncommonly ugly. I reworked the sweater a bit, as conceived as a sweater for my carboy. This project, is however on hold due to other knitting that demanded priority.

And with that, dear reader, I declare an end to my Blogger-blog. It's been fun, and more than a little annoying, but I'm through with Blogger. You may follow my continued knitting adventures on Ravelry, or on my family handcrafts blog (which was handcrafted by my husband :) [RSS feed]. If you noticed, the links in this post are to the posts on my other blog. But to warn you, there will be crafting from the whole family. I have a crafty mother, and mother-in-law, and historical handcrafts photos from my family. So if you are bored by pictures of old quilts and occasional children's artwork just stick to Ravelry.

We Now Disrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Almanac...

2009-12-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

When I found out that a dear friend of mine was getting married, I knew I had to knit her something.

Anne Hanson had just released the Fernfrost pattern back in August and I was inspired. I decided to use the remainder of the silver silk from another wedding gift, and it gave the whole project a very frosty feel.

But while this is really a pretty pattern, I wish I’d picked one of her other patterns that is just as pretty but with a little less fiddliness. Really, pattern on every row and twisted purls? It took me about two hours per repeat, depending on my level of attention.

Imagine my surprise that the thing fit in the palm of my hand after washing! All that work for something so tiny!

I made 14 repeats, and the scarf is 55” long and 8” wide. And, for the record, I wish I had blocking wires.

I added a fringe of twisted yarn, knotted together artfully, about 10”. The twisting and fringing was fun, and a new experience for me. I found it hard to believe it would work at first, but it really does. Just double up the yarn, twisty twisty, and carefully allow it to double back on itself again, then knot the ends. Et voila, fringe.

And if you read any blogs from northern regions, I'm sure you are sick of hearing people complain about the lack of decent lighting all winter, so I'll spare you. But really, this was the only decent picture I got outside...

but pretty enough, and I hope the bride likes it.

Next up on this blog: the Knitter's Almanac year-in-review. Stay tuned!

Collar Fail

2009-10-31T04:25:00.000-07:00

I was actually looking forward to October all year. My son had earmarked this pattern as one he would appreciate and wear, with the addition of a kanagroo-type pocket at the front. The yarn is the lovely Laines du Nord Cashsilk, paired with an old wool-silk blend that was actually one of the first yarns I ever bought in my second knitting stint in 1999. Yikes, 10 year old yarn!

I feel like I've made it through a lot of EZ's patterns, mostly without difficulty, sometimes with some head-scratching, but always made it in the end. She has a unique style of instruction (as many before me have commented), but once you get used to it, it encourages independence and intelligent consideration of each pattern. These things can only make one a better knitter.

The instructions for the top-down collared sweater in October, however, might as well have been written in Jaffa (kree!), for all I understood them. If this book wasn't older than I am, I would suspect some pattern errata... but I do see some people on Ravelry managed the top-down version, so it must just be me.

This is as far as I got before I realized something wasn't quite right:

That's actually the back view, and I managed to delude myself into knitting the rest of the body and a sleeves before I really faced the fact that the crazy pouch like thing on the front cannot be steeked in any way to resemble a open-neck placket. The collar is knit from a provisional cast on, and you are supposed to pick up stitches to knit a facing for the collar and the placket. Yeah, it sounds reasonable like that, but look...

Here's that something that's not quite right:

I think it's salvageable, I can steek an opening in the front, and knit on a placket. Then I will probably frog it from the cast on (at the collar) and knit up a collar from a reasonable point around the neck (minus that crazy pouch thing). At the end of the month, though, I just shoved it in the basket and moved on to the November socks.

September Hot Pants

2009-09-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, these are "hot" in the sense that they will keep little legs warm, and that they are hot pink, not in the B-52s sense of the phrase.

I knit the September longies for my daughter a) because she needed wool pants for recess at school and b) I did not want to admit how much yarn it would actually take to swath my post-3rd-baby behind in wool.

The yarn was a birthday gift from my mother-in-law, bought during our family vacation this summer in Stavanger. There was a charming little store called Bånsull close off the main square by the cathedral.

This pattern was a typical opaquely worded but highly customizable EZ design. Everything went swimmingly, except (in a typical move for me) I made two left legs. The increases above the knee are designed to hide discreetly on the inside of the leg, so the legs should be knit mirrored. Wait, it's just a tube, can't you just rotate it 180 degrees? you say. No, not with the charming calf shaping. Well, anyway, the increases are in the wrong spot and plainly visible if you look for them, but no one cares but me.

The pants still fit comfortable despite the wonky shaping, they are warm, and most importantly, they are pink.

Oh My God, It's Full of Stars...

2009-08-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

August in the Knitter's Almanac is devoted to Christmas "fiddle faddle", and is probably the most enjoyably written chapter. It's like the original knitting blog, pre-internet. Aside from my general affection for this chapter and the endearing story of two old people tooling around in the wilderness in a canoe, I was not won over by the patterns. My tree turned out bloated and floppy (I won't even burden you with a picture of it), and I didn't even try the angel as it looked really too old-fashioned for my tastes. Stars, FTW, however.

I made a bevy of them, and sold them at the Christmas market at our children's school. They took about 15 minutes to make, took up very little yarn, and look quite charming two-toned.

PS. Yes, you caught me! I backdated this post. We decided to send our son to a school that is approximately a 1 hour commute away. Which, there-and-back-again two times a day, means I have had 4 hours less a day for knitting, blogging, and life in general. I know, "knit on the train!" is what you are thinking -- "not with a baby whose dearest love in life is to grab yarn" is my answer.

July Pi

2009-08-26T08:56:00.001-07:00

Back in July, this:

turned into this

and I took it here

and once I got all those people to get out of the way, we were able to take some nice picutres

it does look like I had a little run there, but I think I just poked it too much with my fingers as I was flipping it around. Yarn: cashmere and silk from Colourmart. Yay colourmart!

June Round Up

2009-07-31T15:19:00.000-07:00

Added to the June pile: Ganomy

Knit in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, a very servicable nice wool. I held it double to closer match the stated guage in the pattern which is rather large. I did run out of yarn for the last few yards, so I used a matching green bit I had left over from something else. I rather liked the method for making the little bobble at the top. It's a nice alternative to pom-poms, tassles, or just a bare peak. I didn't use a ping-pong ball as suggested, but just a little leftover ball of somethig-or-other.

I added a line of embroidery just above the brim in green, to match the top of the bobble. All in all: a simple, solid pattern that I would be happy to knit again.

---

Also knit in June, but not yet photographed: a mini fisherman's hat that is totally adorable on a baby head.

Pentagon Hat

2009-07-18T02:17:00.000-07:00

By the same principle as the Three-Corner hat from the June chapter in the Knitter's Almanac, I devised this Five-Corner version. It was quite simple, just made a gauge swatch, and determined how many stitches around the headband should be. Then I knit up aways as instructed in the pattern (though with a deeper headband than in the pattern, which is quite shallow). I increased in the same proportion as the pattern, and then chose five points to decrease instead of three. I decreased at a slightly less-frequent rate to make up for the fact that I was decreasing more each round. Simple!

The yarn is Knit Picks Elegance in color Daisy. Silk and baby alpaca... heaven! The original pattern calls for a gauge of 11 stitches to 4 inches, so I held this yarn double on a 5mm needle to get a gauge closer to that. Way fatter gauge than I am used to knitting. But it was fast!

the best part: my son loves it!

May-June Mashup

2009-07-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

After Ruby's mittens were finished, there was plenty of yarn, and when I was browsing the June hat patterns, the three-cornered tam seemed very similar to the construction of the mittens. So, I had the bright idea to make a matching 3-cornered hat for Ruby. Of course, with the Rauma 3-ply Strikkegarn the guage was all off from the pattern, but it's a fairly simple construction and I was able to translate it succesfully.

In my opinion the head band of this was way too shallow, and after the hat was all finished, I picked up the stitches and knit down another 5 rows or so. And as you can see, it's still rather shallow. I knit one other hat with this same pattern, different yarn (which was more to the guage of the pattern) and it was also too shallow.

the awesomeness of this hat is this big

I did not knit this

2009-06-21T23:57:00.001-07:00

These were a gift for the new baby from a dear friend's mother. This is true Norwegian knitting mojo! I thought I should include them in my May Mittens Roundup.

The birds are Huginn and Muninn, Odin's ravens.

May Mitered Mittens

2009-06-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

Daughter picked out the yarn, Rauma 3ply Stikkegarn. It's a finer guage than called for in the pattern, but the math is easy to adjust. I was impressed with the result of the i-cord cast on (easy and it looks nice) and the project overall was smooth sailing (unusual for me!).

Mayday!

2009-06-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

from the Knitter's Almanac, Norwegian mittens; a fun and satisfying knit, once I got back into the swing of colorwork and started using 2 circular needles instead of dpns. I used Rauma Finullgarn which was fairly soft and not-scratchy compared to other Rauma wools. I chose oatmeal and brown, and the look is decidedly Norwegian. There's just one hitch, though...

"Mayday! Mayday! I wonder why it's 'Mayday'. The distress call. Why d'you say 'Mayday?' It's only a Bank Holiday. Why not 'Shrove Tuesday' or 'Ascension Sunday?' [Mimics] Ascension Sunday! Ascension Sunday! The fifteenth Wednesday after Pentecost! The fifteenth Wednesday after Pentecost!"

(10 points if you get the reference)

I knit two right mittens. Instead of pulling out the 2nd mitten, I'm just going to knit two lefts. At some point.

April Mystery Blanket

2009-05-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

Ah, the April Mystery Blanket... not a mystery of construction as EZ suggests, but a mystery as to why anyone would want to knit this twice.

a maze of ends to weave in (at least two per square, plus perhaps 6 where I miscalculated ball endings, times 24 squares; plus 2 for each of the 15 corner-centers; plus 2 per each of the 38 sides to be woven, and at least 4 more for the border... more than 150 ends to be woven in)

a fuddle of fiddly little 4-round medallions

a devil of tiny pulling holes at each juncture that proves either I am not a good knitter, or EZ was an impossibly perfect knitter (perhaps both)

Knitting each square was oddly satisfying, and gratifyingly portable, but after the 10th square I found myself dreading the end of a square, knowing it meant that much more weaving (aka Kitchenering). I was not a fan of EZ's alternate weaving method described in this chapter (perhaps my yarn did not lend itself to this, and I'll be damned if I am going to "delicately steam" each little block.) I got fairly proficient at the two-needle method of weaving and I think I shall never forget it.

All in all: a learning experience, a good gift for the arsenal, and no regrets... but this pattern is definitely on my black list.

March 2.0

2009-04-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Chainmail Sweater and I duked it out for 5 epic days of knitting every second I could, usually 3 - 4 hours during the day (hey, I've got kids, that's an impressive number of day-time knitting hours), and 5 or 6 after bedtime.

During the knitting of this sweater I was a little obsessed with time, hoping to get it done by the end of March (full confession: I didn't, but I did get it done.) I timed myself. Each body row took almost exactly 10 minutes. Doing this reminded me of the slip-stitch color work technique where you only knit one color at a time. You knit each row twice, though. So I experimented. It was certainly faster to knit the row with just one color, slipping the other color, but then you have to knit the row again, knitting the second color stitches this time. So each row took about 16 minutes to finish by this method. Ultimately, wrangling two strands of yarn was worth it vs. the extra time the slip-stitch method took.

After the 5 days of marathon knitting the body was done, and I moved to the arms at a slower pace. By the time I realized I wasn't going to make my goal of being done in March, I only had the steeking and sewing up to do. I took my time on this, not feeling the deadline pressure, and wanting to do a good job.

My previous experience steeking this Colourmart merino was a little scary, as it is a very slippy yarn. I used the crochet method to secure the steek and steeked away. I'm going to use the word "steek" a few more times, just out of nervous energy. Steek, steek. Because steeking makes me nervous, even though I've had three successful steeking experiences so far... it just feels like the potential is high for it to go disastrously wrong.

But it all went ok, and I am very pleased with the product. It's a well-constructed sweater that fits me and has lots of visual impact. One of my all-time favorite knits. Thanks, EZ!

In case you care: Colourmart Merino 15/44 nm (burgundy and black) and Kauni Effektgarn. If you really care, go to Ravelry.

Remember When?

2009-04-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

When I knit up the Knucks, I was so obsessed with what to put on them, and I still have a lingering obsession with 8-digit phrases now. Recently I ran across the Knuckle Tatoo Project, which would be a great resource for anyone considering some hardcore Knucks.

...or try some some hardcore knitterlyness

...but I think these ones are only for knuckles, though, and the awesomeness would be lost in translation.

March 1.0

2009-04-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Mid March: project still in the early stages.

February projects bled over into March, but I was confident I would have time to finish the Chainmail sweater, which I was really looking forward to. I decided to use stashed Colourmart merinos, in black and burgundy, and went searching for a harmonizing yarn. I found a Rowan yarn in pink. Not usually my color, but the yarns seemed to match ok in the store so I bought it.

I went ahead with the pink/burgundy color combination, partly to try new things, partly reassured when a search through Ravelry for this project turned up this beautilful sweater with similar colors.

Ultimately (though not until after about 10 inches of the body was done) I decided against this and ripped it all out. I wish I could have made up my mind faster, but I still don't regret it.

Instead of pink, I chose a burgundy-green-purple-blue Kauni Effektgarn. This was a very different type of yarn than the merino. It was very hairy and sticky and really sorta scratchy. But the colors are gorgeous, and I do like the effect of color change in the pattern.

Next time: a finished sweater!

March: Beta Testing

2009-04-12T05:16:00.001-07:00

March: "Chainmail Sweater"

As directed, I tried the pattern in a swatch cap first. It's the lovely Mirasol alpaca and a random green yarn I bought second-hand. The colors meld beautifully and I love it. Except I don't have the suggested medium color to match these, and the guage I got from the swatch cap indicated I would not have nearly enough yarn. So back to the drawing board.

And it's kinda pointy... which wouldn't be a problem in the sweater, really, but still. Otherwise this is my favorite hat I've ever knit!

March is the New February

2009-03-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist finishing one more February project, even though it bled over into March. This, of course, made me behind on the March project, but more about that later. For now: Longies!

Knit with Filatura Di Crosa Zarina. Usually I don’t choose varigated colors like this, but the yarn was so soft and squishy I was temporarily blinded. I ran out of the yarn on the longies and the store didn’t have any of the same dyelot, so I chose a pink varigation that matched the green of the blue/purple varigation, and used them in stripes on the legs and straight pink on the feet.

with matching BSJ

The feet turned out really huge, but I think she’ll grow into them (given the genetic evidence).

like a little easter bunny

All in all, I liked many qualities of the yarn. It's soft and smooth, mega squishy and springy. It stretches to accomodate huge diaper butt. The color I chose is just a little loud.

Episode 3: Revenge of the Baby Sweater

2009-03-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to knit this sweater again. The first time I used a heavier yarn and modified the stitch count a bit. This time I used a DK (and on the skinny side, even for DK) and it turned out a great 3 - 6 month size. My daughter is about 1 month old, and it is still a little large on her.

I do like this pattern. It's pretty easy (once you are used to EZ's general "pithy" style). The only thing I had a problem with was making up the sleeves. First I just sewed the edges along the perimeter: the initial stitches together, then extra cast-on stitches to extra cast-on stitches, and then arm edges to arm edges. And as you can see this made a pretty stupid looking silhouette there. On my second try, I gathered up the extra cast-on stitches and sewed them to the body. This makes a normal-looking sleeves and more ease in the underarm area. Surely this is what EZ intended, and maybe I'm just an idiot for doing it wrong the first time. But I know I'm not the only one who finds her directions "open for interpretation", so I hope this might help someone else.

I didn't have an opportunity to run out for the perfect button, so the button stash had to do. The contrast of the oatmeal color of the button is perhaps a little strong, but it went nicely with the burgundy and matches the natural colored soakers that usually grace the bottom half of my model.

February Episode 2: Attack of the Blankie

2009-03-18T09:03:00.001-07:00

The February chapter held one large project, a square shawl, which turned into a blanket because I opted for stripes instead of a lace motif. If I had thought to look ahead to April and see that whole month is a blanket project, I think I would have chosen to ditch the square shawl and try the double knitting project. But we've been using the blanket quite a lot, so I guess I don't really regret it. I knit it somewhat smaller than suggested, EZ suggests 800 stitches (knit in the round), but I stopped at about 500. It's a fine size for covering up a baby in a sling as we walk around in the chilly spring air.

I like how the corners turned out, with the color from one stripe sort of travelling up to the next stripe. I used recylced yarn, and yarn from my Modern Lace Henley, and the purple was left over from child's boot socks. Can you spot the non-matching dye lot? The very last row of purple doesn't quite match!

The knit-on garter stitch border felt like it took forever, and I forgot the miter the corners. But I think it turned out fine anyway.

It's simple, but quite pretty I think.

No really, she loves it.

St. P4trix

2009-03-17T05:36:00.001-07:00

Here's a cheer for all that's green and lovely--

yay!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Episode 1: The Moth Menace, director's cut

2009-03-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

Casualties in the Moth War:

These booties were rendered completely useless, but the cap needed only minor repairs.

The sole of one bootie was completely chewed off by the buggers.

And Ruby's BSJ needs repairs...

...as seen in March 2005... now there is a hole in the sleeve and on the button placket :( We'll see how the repair process goes.

I now keep a sharp look out in my stash for the signs (which for me was never an actual moth, just eggs and little webby stuff). Also, any yarn acquired from a non-standard source gets The Treatment in the freezer. Moths are a social disease... take precautions... stay safe!

February Episode 1: The Moth Menace

2009-03-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

I had less time to knit this month than anticipated... well, perhaps I should have anticipated that...

There were a lot of little projects in the February chapter of The Knitter's Almanac. I skipped the double knitting project (which is suggested as an exercise in double knitting, with possible products being a pot holder, baby changing pad, or cozy baby bag.) I opted not to do this one, because I thought it was only marginally interesting. I was going to pick it up if I ended the month with knitting time left over. Which, of course, I didn't.

First I started with the pants project. EZ calls them longies, but I made three "shortie" versions to act as diaper covers. Late last year as I brought out the long-stored baby things, I made a harsh discovery: my nice wool diaper covers had been invaded and chewed up by the evilest of little buggers. I actually had to throw away four covers, and repaired a few others. Surprisingly, our japanese wool wraps were untouched.

The purple pair was actually knit back in December -- cheater, I know. Yarn: Campolmi R. Filati Tundra bought at Sofie's new store. Nice and thick, but the wool had to be relanolized. Overall, I liked the pattern, but I felt the short row shaping in the butt was not wholely adequate, and not nicely executed. EZ says just knit 5, turn, knit 10, turn, knit 15, turn, etc, which leaves little hiccups in the fabric. If I had to do it again, I would do the nice wrap-and-turn method.

The next two were knit from Leine Merino lanolicious yarn, bought at my first ever visit to the Oslo Husfliden. The smaller one has a plucky little cable on the side, but is sort of thin and small. Perfect for the newborn, but at one month old, she's already outgrown it. The larger one was knit with the yarn held double and never lets a leak through. I neglected the eyelets because I don't really like having a drawstring, but I wish I'd knit it in 1x1 rib instead of 2x2.

I had plans to knit the full Longie pattern, in the same yarn as the BSJ at the beginning of this post, but it has not yet come to fruition. I'll keep knitting on it while I contemplate yarn for the March project.

coming up next: February Episode 2: Attack of the Blankie

January

2009-02-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

I have decided on a project for myself this year: to knit my way through Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. I swear I finished this on the deadline, but there were some distractions that interfered with my blog-posting schedule. Namely, this:

Apl Ina Trinette, born 2. February, 3750 g/ 8 lb 4 oz

(pronounced "apple"; if you don't know us well enough to know the naming story, you won't care :)

Back to the knitting content. Here's my January Aran, knit on 5mm needles from Rauma Vamsegarn, in a lovely natural brown with a frosting of grey fibers (a very charming color). Used a whopping 13 balls, 1225.4 yards (1120.5m).

I didn't enjoy knitting up the fishtrap pattern (the diamondy pattern there) very much, so instead of using that motif on the arms as suggested, I switched to two cables on seed stitch for the sleeves.

I originally planned to cardiganize it, but after I put in the sleeves I tried it on and found I liked it very well as a sweater, and that it fit it over my hugely pregnant belly (unlike other recently knit items). I used the crochet method of steeking this time (instead of machine sewing, which I found to be too imprecise ... I know, I can't sew a straight line.)

I knit a neckband onto it that I believe can be easily incorporated into a cardigan button band, if I later decide to go through with my cardigan plans. Which I probably will, to accommodate a baby in a sling. This baby, in fact:

Co-worker Gifts

2009-01-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

For thoroughness's sake, here are three more gifts that I knit for coworkers. First, a My So Called Scarf, started a looooong time ago, but too turquoise for me to have ever kept it, and thusly it became a gift knit. I enjoyed the pattern well enough, though I got right sick of it by the end. Also I think I did it wrong, twisting the knit stitches instead of knitting them regular. The yarn is from handpaintedyarn.com, knit on 4 mm needles.

Next, the super fastest knit, Fetching! So fast they were off the needles and given away before I could get a really decent picture of them. Knitted on 3.5 mm needles with ColourMart 100% extra fine merino 15/44 NM. I felt like these were a little short around the fingers, so I added 4 extra rows before bind off on the hand and also lengthened the thumb a bit.

And, the funnest gift knit: a mini-Casino. Knitpicks Shadow knit on a 3 mm needle. Horribly photographed due to the northern latitude that I live in. Knitting this started out a little slow because you start at the long side, but it flies along as you get towards the pointy end. It took about 5 days. And the blocking... ah, the blocking. That's seriously fun. Except for when my cat slept on it, with the pins still in it. My really heavy cat who I couldn't manage to lift off of it without snagging it.

But anyway, blocking is magic!

Tilty, not Dusty

2009-01-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

World, meet my Cropped Tilted Duster. Cropped Duster, say "hello, world".

I found out that I was pregnant last Spring and knew that I would want a better pregnancy-sweater solution than I had last time (which was a ridiculously oversized second-hand hoodie -- so big that I continued to wear it after the birth, zipped up around my daughter in the baby bjorn... until she was too big to be carried in the bjorn.) So, the month of May saw a bright hopeful beginning...

The back flew off the needles, no problem. Being a conscientious and busty knitter, I did a lot of gauge swatch calculations and ended up expanding the dimensions of the front a lot. I noticed that even on the less-endowed model, the line between the ribbing and the stockinette on the fronts was awkwardly high on her bust.

I finished the fronts and the arms lickety-split. I compared the back and fronts to a sweater that fit me at the time and there was a little discrepancy... and I realized that one becomes only bustier during pregnancy, and that I would have to rip-and-repeat the fronts in a more generous size. No problem. Until I ran out of yarn.

I could handle that, though. I had another cone of the exact same yarn (ColourMart 100% extra fine merino 15/44 NM) in black, so I finished the ribbing sections with some black trim. I think it looks nice, and even quite possibly intentional.

Finally, all done, seamed, everything. The moment of truth can be harsh. In October, at only 5 1/2 months pregnant, I'd already out-grown my pregnancy sweater.

I took a philosophical approach. It was a successful project (in all except it didn't fit me.) Maybe it would fit after the baby. Or I could gift it to a more slender pregnant friend.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I'd knit the damn thing, I was going to wear it! Last month (8 1/2 months pregnant) I squeezed it on. I had to shuffle the front around a bit and fasten it in an alternative manner, but I think it looked rather nice all in all.

And goddamn, I am so hugely pregnant.

Gifts of Tangled Up Yarn

2009-01-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a set of gift knits that went to a whole family. Done on time, mailed late... should have arrived by now!

First: random cables! This one was really fun. I took a basic reversible cable pattern (Rav link), but at each row where there should have been a cable, I rolled a die. Evens, I cable, odds, I don't. Lots of fun to knit with a die. Kinda confuses bystanders! Yarn was Knitpicks Comfy, and boy was it ever comfy. Squishy, held cables nice. I knit one other project with this same yarn, and it held up well over time (no pilling, still soft).

Number two: a very pretty hat! Bloody Stupid Johnson outa Knitty. I used odds and ends of Noro Silk Garden. The cable motif was really neat, but it ended up really really wide. Initially the ribbing section seemed like it would fit a normal head, but after I knit the horizontal cable band onto it, it was really pulled wide. I ended up ripping out the bottom band of ribbing and reknit it with a lot less stitches (I think 30 less?), also eliminating the short row shaping there. But now it fits great. And I knit the crown to pattern specifications.

And lastly, a half-and-half gift ... fitted for the little one, designed to amuse the big one. Last year I knit a Jayne hat (another Rav link) for the Daddy of this family, this year a baby Jayne. Yarn was Per Tyving pt2, same as Daddy's but I think it was kinda itchy for a kid. We'll see how it goes over.

All in all, yay for gift knitting! One more gift-knit post to come...

A Little Early Gift Knitting

2008-11-26T11:31:00.000-08:00

I think the recipients of these knits don't read this blog, so I'm safe. Here's a little taste of my gift knitting this year.

Quant from knitty.com; it took a little less than a skein of Noro Silk Garden Lite. This was a nice solid pattern and, by the gods, I love entrelac. Just interesting enough to feel like you are performing knitting gymnastics, but simple enough to be able to do it while watching a movie. The picture shows less of the color change than the actual Quant has, as it is quite subtle. It's more greenish on the other side, and quite lovely. The only problem for me really was putting it on to model it -- I kept knotting my hair up in the ties.

And Spirogyra from knitty.com; knitted with maybe 1/2 a skein of Knit Picks Shadow in Oregon Coast Heather (a lovely color!), held double. I was very happy with the product and it was a very quick knit. I think I finished it in a week, knitting nights in front of the "tv" (OK, we don't actually have a TV, but we watch shows on the computer. I think the first series of the new Dr. Who was the accompaniment for these.) The product was so similar to my beloved Pomatomus, and I can't quite wrap my head around how the designer did it with a chart half the size. All in all, I proclaim the Pomatomus superior. I knit the two patterns with different yarns, obviously, so maybe that's a factor (though I did knit Pomatomus with three different yarns), but the Pomatomus mitts seemed to turn out squishier and the pattern seemed to pop out a little more, plus I have a strange affinity for twisted stitches.

All in all, I am satisfied, as I hope my recipients will be, too.

Itty Bitty Knitting Committee

2008-10-28T07:34:00.001-07:00

Tiny Knits! Sock and sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Hat and mitten inspired by the same. The sock actually seems a little out of scale with the others; I may reknit it slightly smaller. I may also add pants to the set, depending on my level of ambition. The set is meant to be an activity in a Montessori toddler classroom. Knit with samples from Colourmart (the mitten and sweater), and leftovers from the stash (sock and hat).

No, this isn't all the knitting I've been up to. There's been a lot of gift knitting getting done (go me!) which will be blogged when gifted. I also completed another large project which experienced a few glitches. Details to come...

Delayed Isabella

2008-09-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

Isabella was begun last summer, and set aside for a more pressing project, and then for more winter-appropriate garments. I forgot to get her back out again at the beginning of this summer, indeed only starting again in August. I didn't have too much more to do, though, just one armscye modification and a sleeve.

After knitting the body (modified to knit in the round), I discovered that I miscalculated where the sleeve needed to begin and the armscye was much too deep. It's always something with me. Being too lazy to rip back and redo the under arm bit, I did a cheaterish thing. I picked up stitches across the bottom edge of my malformed armscye and ribbed a couple of rows and then used simple short row shaping to create a curve. It looks nice, I think.

All in all, I'm happy with the product. A little worried about the drape of the cotton (or droop, rather) but so far it's behaving well.

Bonus: Isabelly! First belly shot on the blog...

I forsee baby knitting in my future...

Reincarnation

2008-09-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

What was this

Has become this

and is much happier in its new life.

Du Store Alpakka (tynn), about 2.5 skeins.

Well, really less because I didn't bother to unravel the back of the shrug, I just cut it out and knit up the arm/leg until it was long enough to join. The arms-cum-legs had enough width that I didn't even need to shape for the butt any. The fit is a little wide-legged, but I'll tell myself it's fashionable. She loves them!

Knitting Tourist

2008-08-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

We love to visit the Norskfolkmuseum but rarely get out there. We are still discovering new things in the place. Like this lady quietly knitting in one of the cabins -- how's that for a summer job!

And I don't know how I ever missed it before: the weaver's shop. Really, all things fiber, and lots more than just knitting. There were old spinning wheels and huge looms (both of which I failed to get pictures of) and some great displays on lesser-known fiber crafts:

Nålbinding, which I think ususally looks a little stiff and awkward like this:

but can also look soft and airy and beautiful like this:

I wish I'd bought the learn-to-nålbind kit. For that matter, I wish I'd bought the learn-to-use a knitty noddy (knitting nancy, strikkelise). As it is, I saw this display:

and bought just the knitty noddy, thinking "hey the internet is a big place, I'm sure there's good instructions somewhere..." Well, sometimes even Google can't help you, and you know how it's harder to find things in a really big place sometimes? If anyone has any pointers to online tutorials or anything, please share.

Little Boy Blue

2008-08-01T01:47:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of mine is expecting her second little boy, and it took me the better part of her pregnancy to decide what to knit for her. I finally decided the project should have two special elements: 1) it was to be my first Baby Surprise Jacket (truly a milestone) and 2) it would be knit from yarn that I bought while I was with her, so long ago, before either of us were considering having babies (more than in an abstract sense anyway).

I bought the yarn in Munich, not even at a proper yarn store, because I was not even enough of a knitter to seek one out. It was a department store in Muenchner Freiheit... I can't even remember the name it was so long ago! The yarn was intended to be my first pair of socks (having already knit 1.5 socks, I thought I was ready for two!). The pattern was beautiful but ill-fated as a sock, not stretchy. I had to frog it off of my foot after the first time I tried it on. So I hope this is a better fate for the yarn.

And, knitting the BSJ for the first time... it reminds me of the first time I ate a mango. I couldn't stop. And I could not get enough (indeed BSJ #2 is en route right now). A truly delightful experience.

There's a third special aspect about this project. I've had two wonderful birth experiences, both at home in the water. The same midwives attended both births. During my second birth, the senior midwife was knitting through most of it. It felt so serene... just right somehow... like "just another normal birth, nothing to get excited about, I guess I'll just knit". It gave me confidence to feel she was so relaxed that she could knit! Two days later, she gave us the finished product: a perfectly beautiful BSJ. The first time I'd ever seen one, and I knew it was a special pattern right away. It turned me on to Elizabeth Zimmermann, and started me on the path to being a better knitter.

Glutton for Noro

2008-07-12T02:24:00.001-07:00

Who could get enough?

oooo la laz

2008-05-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

A larger project has finally come to fruition, and also come on vacation with me...

The Modern Lace Henley, thanks Pam Allen. In Knitpicks Telemark. I did a right and proper gauge swatch this time, and boy am I ever glad I did. I've got some loosey goosey knitting, and swatching in pattern with 3.5 mm turned out way over gauge, so with a bit of calculatoring, I cast on for the smallest size. I'm not actually the smallest size by any means but it fits :).

I modified to knit in the round. I could have dealt with the side-seam increase/decrease area a little more smoothly (I guess I could have stood to read today's Knitting Daily back in February when I started... where's a time machine when you need it?) Also, I left out the collar thing. Sorry, Pam Allen, it's just not me. I continued the neck band as instructed around the entire neck opening.

And, you may have noticed it's practically long sleeved. Yes, I decided while I was knitting that I would like the sleeves to hit me just after my elbow, instead of just above the elbow. I failed to consult the Oracle (e.g. the swatch). Instead of calculating from the swatch how many rounds that should be, I just knit out 10 inches of sleeve. Duh, blocked lace grows. Well, I actually don't mind the longer sleeves as they are a bit warmer for chilly Oslo mornings. Except it looks like I don't know how to knit a proper sleeve. Which I guess I don't.

Tough Love

2008-04-18T03:01:00.000-07:00

This yarn was frogged from my earliest sock attempt -- I bought the yarn in Germany and got about 3 inches before I set it aside for a few years and moved back to the States. The next time I picked it up, I decided the colorwork pattern was beautiful but too inflexible and small for me. I managed to try it on once, then had to frog it off my foot! I took pictures... I might be able to scare them up some day.

Grumperina's epiphany about spirals really struck me, and I thought it would be the perfect color play for my old favorite yarn. I had hoped that my subsequent (10 years') experience as a knitter would make this sock more wearable than the original incarnation... but that eternal hope-spring is all dried up.

I think my cast on of 62 was too much. Me and my loose knitting. I like this yarn a lot, though, it's been with me for a long time. And I can't make something not perfect with it, so... Tough love is a frog.

Teh Uber Suxxorz

2008-04-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

On Christmas Eve, I lost these...

In my grief and despair, I turned to yarn shopping. Who doesn't, in troubling times? The yarn smorgasbord her in Oslo is a little limited... there are lots of totally great, solid, yarns coming out of Scandinavia that I really respect. Socks, colorwork sweaters ... this place has a long venerable history of keeping itself warm with sheep hair. But the yarn shops around here are a little light on the squishy sweet, twinkly-tinkly hand-painted yarns that make your eyes salivate. So, while browsing at Bente's Butikk, I decided to spring for a skein of Rowan Tapestry. I'd admired it before, at Uldstedet in Copenhagen.

Initially, I was in love.

Then, the honeymoon ended and my suave lover turned out to be coarse, hairy-backed and stubbly chinned. And too short.

Summation: boo to Rowan Tapestry. Expensive, coarse and scratchy, and pilly after barely a month's use. Pilly in that way that isn't really pills, like you can't pull them off. Just a halo of fuzz. But not in that nice mohair way. Just ugly dread-locky fuzz.

Pictures and Unrelated T3xt

2008-03-29T00:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I had my first dream about yarn/knitting. First, no kidding. My dear husband and I were in a restaurant in Japan and eating fantastic food.

They were giving us super huge portions, though, and I was afraid they would be grumpy that we weren't finishing them. So we were taking a kind of long time over dinner. I remember this one dish in particular was a salmon tempura with a slightly sweet sticky sauce. Yummerz. So finally we were getting ready to go and I noticed -- for the first time -- that the restuarant had a basket of yarn on the wall next to the table, with some needles. My conception was that it was like a bread basket, a while-you-wait kind of thing. I bet all the best ideas come to people while they are sleeping.

The sad thing was, I was really excited to see what kinds of fancy Japanese yarn they had,

but it was all European yarn.

Du Store Alpakka, Garnstudio, Opal sock yarn, some unlaballed balls. Not even any Kauni!

PS. Did you spot the FO in this post? It's my final pair of replacement Pomatomus mitts. If these get lost or stolen, or I end of hating (ravelry link) them (though I doubt that, they are a beautiful brown silk/cashmere from Colourmart), I will try the new Spirogyra pattern from Knitty.

Entrelac Roolz

2008-03-07T11:25:00.001-08:00

For some reason I really dragged my feet on finishing these (no pun intended… really). I carried around the two, with only the kitchnering to do, for like 3 days. Finally I finished and I love them! I think I was procrastinating because I didn’t want to face the fact that they were actually a little too large. But, with the 6-stitch-block thing, it’s kind of hard to get a fine gradation in sizing.

Plus I think I’m just not expereinced enough with socks to tell early-on what’ll be too big for me. That, and my crazy super-loose knitting. I don’t know what’s up with loosey goosey me.

Anyway. I haven’t blocked them yet, and I’m hoping that will make some magic happen. As it is, they slouch a bit (unless I actually have my legs up in the air admiring the socks, or it's seconds after I just pulled them up), and the heel is a bit poofified now and then. But you know what? I love the colors so much, and I love the look of the entrelac so much, and I loved knitting them so much, that I can accept the slight not-exactly-perfectness of them. And hope that blocking will save the day. Yay for me.

(P.S. it's Annetrelac, in Regia Desgin Kaffee Fassett)

kthx bai!

2008-03-01T12:45:00.001-08:00

2008.02.24.19.09.42, originally uploaded by katy_pine.

Pattern: Knucks, from knitty.com

Knitted for my favorite Norwegian. I started these near the beginning of January in anticipation of his February birthday. It was a quick knit, about two evenings' worth of knitting (including frogging and reknitting the 2nd glove three times because the decreases didn't match properly, entirely my fault, it's a great pattern). So, there they sat for almost a month while I decided what the 8-letter statement should be across the knuckles. I did quite a bit of research and pondering and wracking other people's brains about it.

Here's a sample of other people's choices, culled from ravelry pictures and around the internet, and some from my own crazy brain:

high/five rock/roll game/over whatever nerd/core play/golf serenity rtfm/unix cuteness omg!/wtf? laughter strength read/jane bike/safe dynomite star/zero fuck/yeah patience play/loud knit/soxx play/time late/fate cats/meow half/full piss/off! song/bird love/life all()aces cozy/warm baby/wins brit/pop bull/shit purr/hiss liebling damn/cold snow/babe yarn/diva look4luv look/lush lush/life geek/girl geek/love hard/core nerd/core geek/chic

the winner:
kthx/bai!

I know, not all deep and stuff. But my recipient laughed and laughed and laughed, and I think that was worth it at least.

Ravelry Ate Me

2008-02-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

Ravelry is an incredible tool for organizing and encouraging my knitting. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a progress bar. It's been a little consuming lately, but I've been very productive in the knitting realm.

Annetrelac Socks
Regia Design, Kaffe Fassett

sweet baby Djevellue
silke-alpaca

My So-Called Scarf
colonia 140 from handpaintedyarn.com

and some coldie-pants of my own pattern (basically)

Also we had the most amazing Stitch-n-Bitch this last Monday. We got some exciting baby-makin' news from one of our members, and met two new members. Emily has a beautiful blog and makes adorable little babushkas and gives them super-scandinavian names like "Vilde". Esther didn't have a blog but she's making charming baby hats... you'd have to see them to understand... I'll try to get a picture next time.

smallxorz

2007-12-03T02:28:00.000-08:00

my man rigged a pringles can to his new SLR to make an extreme-macro lens; witness:
addi turbo

noro silk garden

laceweight silk from colourmart.com

hals

2007-11-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

I had this little bit of cashmere/silk sitting around from a sample pack from colourmart.com. I knew I could make something little out if it. At first I tried a headband/earwarmer for a little head, but I didn't like it too much. I ripped it out and started anew after I finished my pomatomus mits. I loved the pattern, so I adapted it to a "hals". This is a piece of clothing that is very popular for Norwegian children, but I didn't see so much in the States (even Alaska). It's great though, like a turtleneck without the sleeves or body, keeps the neck warm and prevents a draft going down the back. I used 10 repeats of the pattern on 2.75 mm needles. After one vertical repeat in the round, I split it and continued one more vertical repeat for the front and one for the back, then about 3 cm of twisted ribbing.

What a Swell Hat

2007-11-21T04:36:00.000-08:00

This was just a little quick project (finished in one night of movies) for a gift. Unfortunately the recipient's head is probably a little bigger than my four-year-old's. It's based on Knitty's Swell, but obviously there's no wave motif and it's seed stitch. One of my favorites. The yarn is from handpaintedyarn.com in the hot chocolate colorway.

p0matømUs

2007-11-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

Mitts modified from Cookie A.'s Pomatomus. Not my idea. Koigu KPPPM in some color or other. I really do love this pattern. As usual, there are things I would change after seeing the product. Mine ended up too large. I did want them to be long, but they are too wide really. I wish they were more hugging. Maybe taking out one of the pattern sections (there are 6) would be enough. I started at the elbow with 2.25 mm needles and switched to 2 mm for the wrist and hand. This did bring in the width a bit, but not enough really. I also decreased right before the final ribbing section. And I took the easy way out and didn't knit individual fingers.

Wind Godly

2007-11-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

This is a modified version of Eunny's Anemoi Mittens. Really less lovely than Eunny's original, but they are infused with love so I hope that will make up for the homeliness. They are for my grandma for Christmas. I actually started them back in March. They got up to 90% done quickly, but a mistake ended in the 2nd mitten being a few rows longer than the other. Of course I didn't notice this until I casted off (sort of a bitch because you have to turn the mitten inside out and then do a 3-needle bind off without missing any of the stitches which are curling inward like crazy). Fast forward 8 months and I pulled out the offending .5 cm and finished it right.

Done and Gone

2007-09-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

It's finished -- the knitting, and the giving.

sh33pz

2007-08-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

We visited a farm last month -- the sheep bells were mesmerizing.

Pillaging

2007-08-08T04:39:00.000-07:00

Many kind people conspired behind my back for many months, plotting, and my own husband embezzeled money through his "lunch budget" to give me a very special birthday. My husband finally broke down and told me the plan a week before because he was afraid I would agree to work extra hours at my new job that would conflict with his plans.

As vikings of old, we sailed the salty southern sea to trade with and pillage from the lands of the south.

We took an overnight cruise to Copenhagen and spent 1.5 days there. The first day went like this: breakfast on the boat, walking and shopping in the center, pastries around 11, visit a yarn store, check in at the crazy hotel, visit another yarn store, pizza at an outdoor cafe, more shopping, brewery tour and beer tasting (yes I enjoyed this), dinner at a very nice organic restaurant at the old port, and a leisurely late night stroll home.

The highlight was the second yarn store. I can't believe I didn't take a business card or note the name -- maybe I can find the receipt later. It had a large array of beautiful Danish yarn -- it's the brown and pink hanks below the Noro in that bag.

just a part of the crazy hotel room

Warning: Graphic Content

2007-07-24T02:06:00.000-07:00

Those are the stitches that were violently wrenched off the needles in my toddler's attempt to "knit". I still cringe looking at them, even though I got them all back on and straightened out and I finished about 15 rounds this week. I got a lot a lot a lot of knitting done (like 5+ hours each night) because my Man was back in the States all week. I got so much done on the lace I feel comfortable giving some time to Isabella, which I've opted to add sleeves to. I might be able to get it done before summer is over -- though the weather has been so crappy here it feels like it's over already.

We had a lovely Stitch-n-Bitch last night at a new location. Despite warnings that it was too snooty for knitting, no one complained or even looked at us funny. We sat in a well lit corner and everyone left us alone. Literally. The service was horrible.

Data, something's got meeeeeeee!

2007-07-21T10:24:00.001-07:00

Row 142. It's really getting big. It's bigger than it looks in the picture -- but I didn't really want to pull this stunt more than once! This really is all-consuming. I've dropped all other projects. Isabella is still without sleeves. I'm starting to get worried I won't finish it. I did a few more calculations a few days ago. At my current rate of progress I've got 100 more hours of work. I can get about 3 hours of work done per night (little more during the day), so that's about a month of work. So I might be done by the end of August, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Oh Noes

2007-07-15T04:00:00.001-07:00

Problems... big problems in lace land. I got a snag last night. A huge snag. I managed to work some of it back in, but it's still a loop about 15 cm long. I'm hoping I'll be able to work it back in during blocking. In the meantime, I'm having a small heartattack.

I also dropped a stitch somewhere, and discovered it about 30 rows down when I was trying to work back in the snag. I managed to pull it up, but I had to get creative.

Third major issue: while I was downloading these pictures, my toddler gleefully exclaimed that she was knitting... the lace. I turned to see she'd pull a whole section off the needles and it took me about 45 minutes to get all the stitches back on properly.

Lastly, some dramatic numb3rs: 24 sections, 35 stitches each = 840 stitches per round. According to my calcuations (based on high-tech chart square counting), the inner chart equalled 7,936 stitches, and the outer section as far as I've gotten is 36,384, for a total of 44,320 stitches so far. Out of a goal of 110, 928. Shitzor. I'm not even 1/2 way done.

Izab3llz

2007-07-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here's one side of Isabella from this summer's knitty. I just finished it, and was starting work at the other side. It was a satisfying piece of work, interesting but not too fiddly.

As usual, I made lots of little changes to the pattern. I always think this will make me feel more in control of the project, but instead I usually feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants. I put vents at the hemline, lengthened the hemline a bit, added short row shaping in the bust and I plan on adding sleeves. Maybe I'll finish it sometime this summer...

It's cotton "Heklegarn" -- crochet yarn, fingering weight, using 2.00 mm needles.

Row 90

2007-06-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

I finally got my cotton Isabella off my long 2.0 mm needle, freeing it to take up the ever-growing lace.

I draped it over the cone of remaining yarn, and it completely engulfed it. I wish I'd thought to weight the yarn plus cone before I started, so I could see how much I've used up so far. Oh well...

Another shot of the lace on long needles... it looks kind of like a dead, deflated cephalopod, which I taunted by tying yarny bits to it.

Yup, pattern's still there.

I can has yarns?

2007-06-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Fat cat loves fat yarn. From handpaintedyarn.com, colorway Verdeazul -- which sounds a lot more creative and exotic if you don't speak spanish, but if you do it's simply blue-green. The intenseness of this yarn, though ... man, it's intense. I would have named this colorway 2000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Teh Stitchz and the Bitchz

2007-06-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

We revisited an old favorite cafe for Stitch-n-Bitch Monday night. I was working on round 84. The stitches are getting really crowded on the needle, threatening to pop off the end at any time.

the lovely pattern is still there, with about 3 inches of feather-and-fan action

69, d00dz!

2007-06-20T02:11:00.000-07:00

I'm rounding the 69th row now. It is getting larger, and I know it with grow with blocking -- but I'm worried it'll be a little small. The pattern calls for 2.75 mm needles, and I'm using 2s. And now on to the pr0n...

on the cone
(red bits are yarny stitch markers -- I have 24 sections and I just didn't have the patience to make 16 more nice stitch markers)

in a bunch

with spidey

I gotz patternage!

i gots m4d skillZ

2007-06-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

The shrug was just too big. The lace pattern (if you can even call it that, it was so boneheaded... yo, k2tog) was suuuuper stretchy and actually ended up about 2 inches too wide. Yes, yes, the Swatch Gods smote me again for ignoring them. Being the lazy ho I am, I did not want to rip out the arm (again) and reknit it.

So guess what! I just chopped it off.

Then a little grafty magic (guided by some very coherent step-by-step instructions)...

and I ended up with a very serviceable arm-covering. It does still bunch/sag a little at the neck, but overall I find that acceptable.

I Believe In Miracles,You Sexy Thing!

2007-06-15T02:57:00.001-07:00

From handpaintedyarn.com, colorway "hot chocolate". It's a little different than I expected, but totally acceptable. It's beautiful! I think I would have named this colorway "redwoods" or something, though, because it's much more like a redwood burl than a cup of hot chocolate.

No, it's not really a hair net...

2007-06-15T02:19:00.000-07:00

Nor is it a glove...

It's a lace shawl being knit in the round. Started on double pointed needles of the devil, I switched to this much nicer slick round needle at the earliest possible time.

0wn4ge!

2007-06-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

It took a couple of false starts (ok, like 5... or maybe 11, depending on how you count) for me to get this thing right. And I didn't even really get it *right* so much as got it to work.
Basically, those bamboo double pointeds you see SuX0r! Too sticky, and my toddler broke one while I was running towards her in slow motion going "nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" so I had to use a set of 4 instead of 5.
I ended up knitting the first 10 rounds or so flat and then joining (will seam before blocking) because I just could not get 2 itty bitty stitches on these itty bitty needles to behave. Don't you love my pretty stitch markers, though?

Over the years I've received these things as decorations on wrapped presents (the red one is Korean, the wooden ones Japanese) and kept them not really knowing what to do with them. When I tried my regular metal/bead stitch markers, it weighed down the piece considerably and snagged the fabric. Enter: fabric/ribbon stitch markers.

What am I knitting, you ask? A lovely hair net! You can see it draped over the cone from ColourMart. 100% silk, laceweight, color silver. One cone should do my job.

ColourMart Swatches: Cashmere

2007-06-10T04:12:00.000-07:00

Here are the cashmere yarns.

This is the 8/14NM cashmere aran weight, prewash. Lovely to knit, very soft, beautiful hand. I think it was very well suited to the cable or other textural stitches. The color isn't exactly what I would choose for myself, though! I think it was "cyclamen".

This is after washing. You can see it puffed up a bit (I think they say "bloom") and it's much softer and fuzzier. I love this yarn.
You can see the yarn ends here -- it was actually a pretty splitty yarn to knit, the yarn being made by twisting 2 strands of laceweight and then twisting 4 strands of the resulting yarn together. Still a pleasure to knit.

I tried to get a side shot to show the fuzziness of the yarn. Look at that depth! I would love a sweater of this stuff!

This was dk weight 100% cashmere 2/7NM color crocus mix. Prewashing, it was soft enough. I loved the color combinations in this heathered yarn. Light purples, pinks, and reds. Not normally what I'd choose, but I found it really charming.

After washing, this yarn was gorgeous! I tried to capture the puffiness in the picture. Now I see why they say "bloom"! Truly lovely and soft.

This is 4/14NM 100% cashmere double twist in brume. I felt like this yarn was kind of boring. Grey heathered with some darker greys and black. Hand was ok, resulting fabric ok, nothing spectacular. Probably my least favorite yarn that I swatched from ColourMart.

Here's the grey cashmere after washing. It bloomed some, but not as beautifully as the crocus one.

ColourMart Swatches: Silk

2007-06-09T13:56:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I got the samples package from ColourMart and I've been happily swatching ever since. I had heard there would be a marked difference in some of the yarns pre- and post-washing, so I took pictures before and after. I could tell with some of the yarns, and not so much with others.

First, the yarn I actually ordered: 100% silk laceweight in silver. This is one section repeat of the center of the pattern I'm planning to use. Prewashed. I used 2.0 mm needles. This yarn is tiny! It's really smooth and slippy. I anticipate it will drape gorgeously.

This is after a light washing with a very mild soap, and blocking. The size didn't change much compared to the first pre-wash pinning out. The color is gorgeous and shiny. Reminds me of my Russian Blue cats in the sunshine.

This is the 100% crunchy silk, 5/20NM color: granite mix. And the name says it all, this stuff is crunchy. Stiff and ... kind of scratchy, but scratchy like a loofa, not like itchy. ColourMart suggests use for outer garments, and I agree.

Post-washing and blocking, size didn't change much, and it did not bloom. I experimented with different stitched in the swatch. To the left is seed stitch, then a cable. I also tried plain stockinette and a 1x1 rib. I think I liked the seed stitch best.

This is pre-washing 100% smooth silk 8/28NM color: citron. I loved this yarn. So smooth and shiny to the point of sparkling.

After the wash, the fabric didn't change much, no blooming. But it was just gorgeous. I tried a lacey bit of the swatch and a cabely bit. Both worked nice, but the cable was particularly nice because it highlighted the sheen of the yarn.

Yarn 13wt

2007-05-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

I got my yarns from ColourMart today. W00t! Here's the Sample Pack from ColourMart. Also attached was another yarn, I stupidly did not save the info about it. I think cashmere or cash/merino. It was pink. And one of the most luscious yarns I've touched.

P3rpl

2007-05-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Crappy picture, but this is one half of a shrug-type-object that I was inspired to knit without any kind of pattern or even design principle, really. The arm is a short tube (above the elbow) with picot edge (all the rage these days). There are two diamond shaped eyelet accents before the diagonal-eyelets pattern across the back. I didn't anticipate 1) how stretchy the diagonal eyelet pattern and 2) that the back would really sag at the neck! I'm assuming #2 is because of #1. I'll see how motivated I am to fix it, considering other projects that are in the queue.

Kinky Yarn

2007-05-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

Recycling a sweater. It was a really huge aran, and I started ripping it up today. I reused this wooden toy as a hank-winder since I have no such object. The resultant yarn was supa kinky! Washed and weighed down, the yarn relaxed a lot. I'm considering a dye project... sometime.

roffle my woffles

2007-05-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

I heart Wil Wheaton. Yes, that's Wil Wheaton.

The First Robot Overlord

2007-04-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

This was the first robot I knitted (a late christmas present). Pictures courtesy of the recipient. Looks like my intarsia left a little to be desired. Maybe I should have blocked it before stuffing it?

Greet Your Future Robot Overlord

2007-04-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

This was the second robot I knitted; we included an internal wire structure so that his arms and legs were bendable. It was a birthday present for a dear friend.

Baby Robot Overlord

2007-04-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Robots robots everywhere. This is a baby version, that's why it's pink.

2007-04-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

These are some pants I experimented with knitting this winter. The blue ones were from the knitty.com pattern "Blu" but sized up because my little one isn't so little. It had a 2-inch turnable cuff, to turn down when he grows, but as you can see he grew in between me measuring him and finishing the darned pants, so the cuffs were immediately turned down. They were a little tight in the bum, but he likes em.

The stripey ones used self-striping yarn, which usually doesn't come in colors I don't hate. But I found a nice blue combo, so I gave it a go for the baby girl pants. I made the waistband and the ankles in cotton yarn. This was sized up from a diaper-soaker-longies pattern I got a long time ago. I should have put shortrow shaping in the butt or just knit it up further because it really pulls down at the center seam. Why the heck wasn't a diaper cover designed with a fuller butt?

Fr0ggin' A!

2007-04-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

This was my first major project. I designed it myself, based on some basic sweater recipe. Seed stitch, with three cables. I don't know what I was thinking with the cables... just wanted to try it out, I guess. I packed this project with me on a 2 month vacation with a dear friend. I didn't finish it... forgot about it, came back to it, abandoned knitting all together for a few years, and finally took it back up only to discover I was 1/3 of a sleeve short of yarn. That's what I get for taking 9 years to finish a project. These pictures were taken right before the biggest frog party of my life.

Here's what came of it, though:
A loose interpretation of the Donna top from Magknits. The sleeves didn't come out quite as I'd hoped, but at least I had enough yarn.

Salema

2007-04-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

My budding interest in lace and our fantastic vacation in Portugal inspired me to make this small piece. It hangs from a piece of driftwood. Arty. Svigerinne teased me about reinventing macrame. Hey, /\/\4cR@m3 is t3h uber R0XX0Rz!

Baby Knitting

2007-04-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

In considering starting a knitting blog, I perused the knitting pictures that I have. Because everyone knows the most important part of a knitting blog is the p()rn. I found this kinda funny picture of me knitting while holding my second baby. I'm a multi taskx0r!

Innaugural Post

2007-04-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hat (under the hood, the stripey face mask) and scarf knitted by the original 1337 knitzor, 4unt +h3|m@. Red Heart: pwnt.