Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda
Yarn: Malabrigo - Sweet Grape. Purchased at the Imagiknit booth at Stitches West
Needles: US 5 for the ribbing, US 7 for the body of the hat, and US 6 DPNs to finish (couldn't find my size 7 dpns)
Start: March 3, 2008
Finish: March 8, 2008
I loved knitting this hat, and am finding it much more wearable than I expected. The pattern was well written and easy to follow. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!
Click to embiggen. As usual, I'm making a funny face.
After I posted Monday, I was itching to start something fairly quick and easy. I also have a loose goal of using all my Stitches West 2008 yarn before Stitches West 2009, so I got out my new Malabrigo and started this.
It's Gretel by Ysolda. I'm making the medium level of slouch version, and have just about finished the first chart. So far it is knitting up into a soft and pretty hat. I might even finish it by this weekend!
On the left, the clogs I knit Dad for Christmas 2005. On the right, the pair for Mom this Christmas. She was very happy to get her own pair. I also got to see the extent of wear on Dad's and agree he needs a new pair soon, probably sooner than next Christmas.
My sister's sweater is still in progress, but hopefully I'll be mailing it to her soon. Christmas was pretty good this year.
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert.
Modifications: Much narrower and longer than pattern. I think I did 3 or 4 increase repeats, and probably 20 or so straight section repeats.
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted merino in Tuscan Sky, purchased from WEBS.
Needles: US 7s (gauge is a bit tight, I'd probably use 8s the next time I use Malabrigo.)
Size: about 12" wide and about 8' long.
I love this scarf. It's so incredibly soft and snuggly. And I finished it as just the right time. The last two days it was cold and drizzly and I was so happy to have a warm scarf. Sadly I left it at home today, and my office is chilly.
I'm very tempted to make a sweater out of Malabrigo at some point. I know it will pill like crazy, but I think it might be worth it to be all cuddled up, especially if I can get it 25% off with a combined WEBS order again. We shall see. Speaking of WEBS, my order did arrive on Tuesday, and I cast on for two new projects. Two steps forward, one step back, and all that. Pictures coming soon.
I've been thinking about what kind of knitting goals I want to make for the new year, what kind of knitter I am, and how to get away from things that are supposed to be fun causing me stress. The conclusion is I have too many WIPs and it stresses me out. The solution?
2007 will be the year I make a conclusive call on each of my projects. January 1st (or thereabout) I will post a list of all my WIPs. Any project that doesn't get worked on for the entire year will be ripped out on Dec 31st. Because really, if I haven't worked on it for more than a year, it's not getting finished, and my gauge probably would have changed even if I wanted to pick it back up.
This doesn't mean I have to finish every project that is currently in progress. That would just be setting myself up for failure. And I know that the loophole is to knit a stitch or two on everything the last week of December next year (and I withhold the right to do this on a project or two I can't bear to rip out), but the point really is for me to step back and take a second look at what I've decided to knit. If I'm never going to work on something again, then I should rip it out and reclaim the yarn to make something new and fabulous.
While I've just planned this as something to do for myself, if anyone wants to play along, I'd be interested to hear your take on it.
Now that you've read my ramblings, here's a treat. Now that my finals are over, I've been working on Eunny's Anemoi Mittens. The yarn is J&S Shetland Jumper weight in Acorn and Rust. The Acorn was the rest of the partial ball left from the Endpaper Mitts (that got me to the mitten tip) plus a second ball from the stash. I used about 3/4 of a ball of the Rust for this first one, so I figure I'll probably have half the second ball of Rust in the end. J&S really is the never ending yarn for me.
Back of the Right Hand.
Right Palm
Inside of mitten.
I knit them inside out, like Rebekkah does colorwork on DPNs, and it helped my stranding quite a bit. I have a tendency to over compensate my stranding and leave too long of floats, which can make things look wonky even after blocking. I decided against weaving the floats, as the Shetland wool is sticky enough that after a blocking I'm not worried about catching my fingers in the floats. If I used a smoother yarn, I probably would have trapped any floats longer than 5 stitches.
I've cast on for the second mitten, and it will be coming with me on the train to Fresno tomorrow. I'm visiting my family the 21st through the 26th, so posting will probably resume when I get back. I will have my laptop and Internet there though, so maybe a picture or two will show up.
I'm on a definite colorwork kick, as this picture will show.
That's the start of two different mittens. The blue and black my second Nordic Mitten from an old issue of IK (I knit the first one in July of 2005). The rust and brown is the start of an Anemoi Mitten. I love Eunny's modified corrugated ribbing. Brilliant! Man, I'd so much rather work on these than study for my finals. They'll have to do as study breaks.
I finished the Endpaper Mitts this week and unpinned them from blocking this afternoon. Pictures and details below.
Pattern: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang.
Yarn: J&S Jumper Weight in Lovat and Acorn, purchased from Schoolhouse Press.
Needles: Knitpicks 2.0mm DPNs for the ribbing, Inox Grey 2.75mm DPNs for the body.
Started: Nov. 17, 2006
Completed: Dec. 1, 2006
Modifications: I didn't do the tubular cast on, and I did a different kitchner bind off.
What I'd do differently: I'd go up to 2.25mm needles for the ribbing. The cuff is a smidge tight at the top of my forearm, as it hits right were my arms start to get bigger. It's not a big problem though, they still fit fine.
Blocking: A god send with colorwork. I have some pictures below of the pre-blocking lumps, how I blocked, and a flat post-blocking shot.
Pre-blocking. The color is a bit off, as it was late afternoon light with no flash, but you can see how the ribbing wants to flip up and the stranding is a bit lumpy.
Blocking. I ran wires up the purl faux-seam lines and pulled them apart to pin down. Then I pinned down the ribbing and thumb gusset.
Post-blocking. No flash with better sunlight, so better color accuracy. Kathy sent me a tripod for my birthday (Thanks babe!) so I could get these nice flash free non-blurry photos.
In conclusion, I couldn't be more thrilled with this project. It was super quick to knit, maybe 4 evenings of work all together, and now that the weather seems to have finally turned down here I'll actually be able to use them. You can see all the photos I took of this project here.
Last set until there's a pair, I promise.
Getting a little help and warmth with my Con Law assignment. Yeah, I know the color coding of highlighting is pretty dorky. I have a system.
Blocking. I threaded wires up the sides along the purl columns and pinned them equal distance apart. Blocking really made a difference in the lumpiness of the colorwork. It looks much better now.
Out in the sun, no flash.
On in the sun, without flash. This one is probably the most color accurate, in the foreground.
I cast on for the second one last night and got 1/3 through the wrist. This weekend is supposed to be mostly for studying, but I do have a few breaks built in, so there might be a finished pair by Monday.
I didn't get as much done on the Endpaper Mitts this weekend as I thought I would. After my first glass of wine at Wine Steals with everyone on Saturday, I realized I didn't know where I was on the chart and didn't care to figure it out, so I switched to socks. I finally got back to it tonight during Heros and finished the patterning.
I love it! Just a bit of ribbing to go, and then another to make. I'd like to have these done for finals, since my hands always freeze and get sore during the 3 hour exams.
I also had a great weekend for Tacky Xmas, my tree came!
I couldn't get a picture without a flash to turn out, sadly. I'm hoping to get a tripod for my birthday next week, which would improve the quality of pictures here. Oooh, and my parents got me a membership to the Socks that Rock Sock Club for my birthday. Yay!
Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts.
The sun had set a bit more than is optimal for this picture, it's not actually that lumpy. I've just finished chart A, and am about to start the thumb shaping.
The yarn is J&S Jumper Weight from Schoolhouse Press in Lovat (blue) and Acorn (brown). I'm totally loving this so far, it's been a while since I did any colorwork.
In other news, I'm waiting for a baby sweater to dry so I can sew on buttons and take a picture.
I finished my scarf in Louisa Harding Grace color 6. Pictures!
Stats:
Yarn - Louisa Harding Grace 50/50 wool/silk, 3 balls
Needles - 2 size 6 Inox Grey DPNs
Pattern - Mistake Rib, 35 stitches *k2 p2* every row, ending with p1.
Blocking - Washed in wool wash, laid flat under table to dry, spreading ribbing slightly.
Impressions - I loved this yarn! It's a very lofty single and very soft with a nice sheen. I'd love to have a sweater out of this someday. It's fairly reasonably priced for a luxury yarn, $11 for 110 yards of DK weight. I was pleased to get a scarf as long as I am tall out of 3 balls, which I picked up on sale at the Bonita Knitting Store.
I've made some good progress on Icarus this week, while watching Season 2 of House. It's easy enough to knit while watching TV, and I can pretend I'm concentrating on it when things get gross on screen.
Chart 2 complete, which was my goal for the month. I'm going to set it aside and work on my other goals for a bit, but might pick it back up in a few days because of this -
Yarn for the Tina Shawl. It's JaggerSpun SuperFine Merino from Sarah's Yarns. I must say I was extremely pleased with both the prices and service from Sarah's Yarns. I got a 1lb cone for what 8oz cost on most other websites, and it shipped just one hour after I placed my order. I received it 3 days later, along with a color card for a lace weight yarn she'll be offering this fall (Super Lamb). The color is Graphite and I really want to get started working with it, but can't until I finish Icarus. As usual, it takes the call of starting something new to get me to want to finish something old.
My first square for Lizard Ridge. My obsession with this blanket confuses me. I don't really like Kureyon, and I've never had any desire to knit a blanket before, but I saw this pattern and I must make it. This square was fun to knit and took about 4 hours. Now that I have the pattern memorized I'm sure it will go quicker. I have no idea what the colorway is, because Nancy gave me this random ball of Kureyon. Yesterday I ordered a couple balls from the clearance section of Webbs to add to this. I plan on picking up a ball once a month or so and in a year I'll have a blanket.
Here's the other thing I've been working on,
A super simple mistake rib scarf in Lousia Harding Grace (color 6). The yarn is really really nice, a 50/50 merino/silk blend that reminds me of Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb, but in a DK weight. I grabbed 3 balls of this from the Bonita Knitting Store and am just over 1 ball in. I'll probably get about 5' of scarf after blocking. It also comes in a blue-grey shade that matches my eyes almost exactly, and I'm thinking of getting a couple balls to make a matching mistake rib hat. The softness and the sheen of this yarn is just wonderful and it feels great to knit with.
Other than these two projects, I've done a bit of work on a couple baby sweaters. Nothing photograph worthy yet, unfortunately. I also had someone at a yarn store try and talk me out of Dale Baby Ull for a baby sweater because it was "too thin. It'll take forever." It wound up being a long and involved conversation about how yes, I did want to knit a baby sweater on fingering weight yarn, and yes, I did really have a pattern that called for it, and no, it's not actually going to take that long. *sigh*
It's done! Lots of photos on this one.
Hanging out on the balcony, fluttering in the breeze. It's very light and airy.
Modeled. I was worried it came out a bit short while blocking, but now that I've tried it on I think it's perfect.
Blocking.
Project stats:
Pattern: Mountain Stream Scarf
Yarn: Handpaintedyarn.com lace weight, approximately half a 100g hank
Needles: 3.00 mm Addi Natura
Size: 8" wide by 63" long (pattern specs are 11" x 50")
Modifications: Smaller needles - the pattern calls for 4mm needles, but I like my lace at a tighter gauge. The pattern only calls for 14 pattern repeats, I did 30, because of the smaller needles and wanting a longer scarf
Thoughts: This scarf was very fun to knit. I really liked the Orenburg styling, and enjoyed knitting on the top border the most. I'm thrilled with how it looks, fits, and feels. It's nice and light, so I should actually get some use out of it.
Links: All my posts on this topic.
All photos of this project
Ok, hat. I knit the Odessa hat last Tuesday and finally got a picture of it last night.
I like it. I wish I'd knit it a bit longer than the pattern called for (5.5" instead of my usual 6" - that will teach me to trust the pattern), but it blocked out alright. The yarn is rediculously soft. I'm sure it's not very hard wearing, but for a hat that should be alright. Knitting with the beads was fun too.
Stats:
Pattern: Odessa, linked above, by Grumperina
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK
Beads: size 6 glass beads from Beverly's
Needles: Clover US4 16" circs for ribbing, Inox US6 DPNs for main hat. I really liked the Inox needles.
Start: Feb 21, 2006
Finished: Feb 21, 2006
No modifications. Oh, and I didn't swatch, because, hey, it's a hat. If it's off, you just rip it out and start over.
Now, socks in progress.
I have issues with how this pattern is written. When I finish, I'll do a whole post on what I did differently, and what else I would modify if I knit them again. They do knit up fast though, as I've only been working on them for 4 days. My sockapaloooza pal has smaller feet tham me, so these should finish up quick too! Hmm, two complete pairs of socks in February? We'll see.
I knit most of the second sock at Kris's, with Miyon, Kristin, Krys, and Marissa. Most of them were working on Olympic Knitting - check out their finished projects, they're great!
Oh, and Krys, ERIS SLEEVES!
Rebekkah and I were discussing the effect twisted stitches have on finished items this morning and I decided to upload pictures of an extremely biased hat I knit with twisted purl stitches.
This is the right side, it's modeled off an Old Navy hat Andrew saw and liked. I used Rowan Wool-Cotton and US 3 needles. All the purl stitches are twisted, resulting in the slant.
Here's the wrong side, where it's easier to see the twisted stitches. (Photos can be clicked to make bigger) While there's nothing wrong with the hat, it's not the effect I was looking for, and if I was doing color work or something similar the bias could cause unpleasant distortion. I think it's important to know what you're doing with your knitting. Now I can use twisted stitches when I want them for a certain effect, and get a non twisted result the rest of the time. What was causing my twisted purls was wrapping the purls the wrong way.
Edit: I forgot to add that I knit this hat in June 2004, when I'd been knitting about 4 months. I think it was my last FO with twisted purl stitches.
I started a pair of Jaywalkers on Christmas, two at a time on two circs.
Side A:
Side B:
The pooling is pretty awful, but the fit is perfect and they are so soft, so I'm going to let it slide. Trying not to sweat the small stuff these days.
I also finished knitting Mary Ella yesterday. I thought I had snaps, but they seem to have disappeared, so I need to swing by Michaels or JoAnns before the party tonight.
I actually really enjoyed knitting this and it went fairly quickly. Stats:
Yarn: Kit from Earthfaire. It came with DMC Cotton Pearle and beads. I was really pleased with the kit, the beads were very high quality, only about 3 bad beads in the whole tube, there was more than enough of both thread and beads. Miyon gave me the kit (Thanks again!) but it's definitely worth the $5.
Needles: size 0000 DPNs, two of them. Sharp and slippery, but I still have both my eyes.
Modifications: I knit the smallest size, because my wrist circumference was on the low end of the second smallest size. I know cotton stretches over time and I didn't want it to get too big. It's a bit snug now, but will hopefully fit perfectly after a wear or two. I knit a total of 19 pattern repeats. Instead of knitting two together for the decrease I did slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over, because it was easier for me with the small yarn and needles.
Started: Dec 19th 2005
Finished: Dec 30th 2005
Overall impressions: I would make more of these, maybe as gifts. It's pretty and didn't take all that long after bead stringing.
I got a Mary Ella kit from Miyon this weekend. Sunday night I spent a few hours stringing beads onto DMC Cotton Perle with a dental floss threader. It's knit on size 0000 needles, which Kris was nice enough to loan me. I don't think I need to own a set of them just yet. When I work on it I get the feeling I'm about to either put my eye out or accidentally jam the needle through my hand, but I'm sure that's just paranoia and a long history of clumsiness speaking. So far I've completed the garter stitch edging, increase section and 3 repeats, for a grand total of 1.5". My wrist is 6.25" around, so I have a ways to go. Kris mentioned hers stretched, so I'm shooting for a little short. If I can finish one repeat a day, I'll probably get it done before school starts again.
It is pretty. But oof, the tiny. That's a US 4 needle in there for scale.
My current portable project - tip-less gloves worked from the fingers down. I finished a couple fingers tonight and have been skewering them to keep them in the right order.
I'm using Nona's i-cord finger method, with a few modifications. As I want half fingers, I'm casting on the full amount of stitches after increases for each finger. I'm also picking up more stitches with my crochet hook to close the gap - basically as many as necessary. This is fun times, and it feels like it goes so quickly. Each finger takes about 15 min to make, so I should get two more fingers done during bus riding tomorrow.
In sweater news, I'm about 1/3 through the collar. Hopefully I can wear my completed sweater to the Goblet of Fire midnight showing on Thursday (yeah, I'm a dork).
Finished another languishing WIP last night during the Padres game. This is a version of Cornet, modified to use Lambs Pride Bulky. I did a plain twisted cable, because I felt the braided cable would be too wide (and I would have run out of yarn - I've only got about 6 yards left) and knit the cabled band until it was the right length to go around my head, grafted the band shut, picked up somewhere between 60 and 70 stitches and knit a basic hat up.
I was doing a self portrait and Andrew snuck in, so now he gets to be on the blog.
Today I've mostly been studying Evidence with baseball breaks. I did manage to knit a few rounds on my gloves though, and finally got past the ribbing and am about to decide what kind of thumb to use. Still haven't finished chart 4 of Peacock, but I'm getting close.
I bought some under the sofa bins at Ikea yesterday that I'm slowly putting my stash in. One bin is for WIPs and UFOs, the other two will probably be for wool and sock yarn. I'll leave the cotton in a box in the closet, because I don't really do much with it. We also bought some pretty jazz themed prints from Ikea. I know they don't count as "art", but they look nice in our dining room.
Leaha's mini-clap was finished and blocked tonight! Pictures
And a detail shot
Stats:
Pattern: Clapotis from knitty.com.
Yarn: Schaefer Yarns Anne, used about half the hank.
Needles: 40" US5 Addi Turbos
Modifications: I only did 3 repeats of the increase section, and repeated the straight section until the scarf was 6 feet long. I lightly blocked the scarf by soaking it in wool wash and spreading it out gently on the carpet.
This was pretty fun to knit once it "clicked", which wasn't until I was almost halfway through. I can't imagine knitting a full sized one though, I'd probably poke my eyes out. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and hopefully Leaha will really like it. I have almost 60g of yarn left, so there will be a scarf for me in the future (in a completely different pattern).
I also made some decent progress on Peacock and may get through chart 4 this weekend. I'm excited to get past chart 5 as 3, 4, and 5 are pretty much the same chart.
Krys, I beat you on glove completion. Ha!
I finished Andrew's video game gloves today. Actually I finished the knitting last weekend, but ironed on the patched tonight, making it finally a completely finished object. Pictures!
Holding hands out picture, mostly to see the patches
Action shot 1, with 1-up mushroom
Action shot 2, with lose a life mushroom.
Stats:
Started Thanksgiving weekend 2004, with the right glove and hand and thumb of left glove completed that weekend.
Finished October 2, 2005.
Yarn - Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in black
Needles - Brittany Birch US 5s for the ribbing and Clover 7s (and then Crystal Palace 7s, after I lost two of the Clovers) for the body.
Pattern - based off the progressive gloves article in the Winter '03 IK. I used a symmetrical thumb gusset and cast on more between the finger stitches than called for.
Comments - The yarn is super soft, but pills like crazy. The glove that was finished last year looks pretty beat up already. They should be ok though, since he'll mostly use them while typing and playing games, not super heavy use. If I did them over, I'd make the ribbing longer and maybe a bit tighter, and I'd knit the whole glove at the tighter gauge. I was pleased to see I'd written down enough of what I did to make the second glove match. Andrew really loves them, so that's the important part.
I'm also majorly bummed I couldn't make it up to Nancy's today to knit and spin. I'd been looking forward to it all week, but I just got too bogged down with school stuff. I think I've done enough for now though, so I'm going to knit a bit before bed.
The finished mitten has been blocked and I have pictures. It's not completely dry yet, the double thickness of wool is taking a while to dry, but the fit is much better after blocking. I should cast on for the second tonight, to avoid Second Mitten Syndrome, which probably rivals only Second Sock Syndrome in its prevalance.
I took before and after blocking pictures, and the magic of blocking has not failed me.
Palm-
Before
After
Back of Hand -
Before
After
I also started the heel on the Koigu socks last night waiting for Harry Potter and am about halfway through. Thanks Kris for the recommendation for the Anne. I started a mini-clap, but if that doesn't work out, I'll try the pooling scarf next.
I finished the mitten last night right before bed, and blocked it when I got home from work today. Hopefully it will be dry by tomorrow for pictures! Most of the unevenness is gone, and it looks much better.
I also got a pretty neat email today. Someone from Artyarns wants to put a picture of my Supermerino socks up on their website. I really enjoyed knitting those socks and I'd been thinking of coming up with a sock pattern using their yarn. Something to show off the stripey-ness, maybe chevrons... it's all still in the planning stages.
One more thing, I need advice for the Leaha gift. I have a hank of Schafer Yarns Anne in a really beautiful colorway. I started the lace smoke ring, hated the pattern and ripped that out. Then I started a simpler smoke ring, but it's too boring and I know I'll never finish. I'm thinking of making a mini-Clapotis, narrower and more scarf shaped, as I only have one hank, but worry I'll boredom out of that too. It's really lovely yarn, but it doesn't want to be any of the things I've tried so far. Maybe that's because I want it to be a Flower Basket Shawl, for me. Leaha has no use for a FBS. I'm sure she'd like it, and think it was pretty, but I want to make something to keep her neck warm and voice safe in the colder weather. Maybe I'll start the mini-clap tonight and see what the yarn thinks. It's holding up surprisingly well to all the ripping, thank goodness.
Something was poking me under the arm all day. I came home and found this -
That would be a piece of metal sticking out of my bra! Not comfortable! I'll be sewing that hole shut tonight, because I need to be able to wear it still.
Back on topic, I got a picture of the Koigu socks that shows the color much better, but has weird shadows. I didn't use a flash to get better color, and the sun is a little low at 7pm for good pictures. I included the sheepy for scale. Only 1" to the heel! I'm really excited to wear these, the colors are so cheerful.
The Nordic Mittens have been picked back up. I knit 5 rows last night before bed and remembered how fun they are. Only 20 rows to go, and just 5 until they start getting shorter. I think I'll work on them now actually, and there might be half a FO up tomorrow!
I missed a day and a half of work this week with the stomach flu. This ment I got to spend the time drinking gatorade, watching Law and Order, and knitting these:
I'm over halfway through the hand now, and love how they're turning out. In a couple more rows I'll start decreasing and the rows will really start to fly by.
I'm a little concerned about the puckering, which you can see in this close up (I love macro mode - and I actually managed an in focus shot)
Once I finish this mitten I'll block it and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, I'll rip and start over, no huge deal I guess.
I also made progress on the mom sock and am working on the toe. They haven't seen much work lately as I got a new purse that doesn't have room for both my shoes and knitting. I'm trying to come up with ways to remedy this.
New Harry Potter in 9 days! I'm still on track to re-read the first 5 by the 16th. I read 3/4 of PoA yesterday and will probably finish it tonight. I think that one is still my favorite.
The Nordic Mittens are coming along great. Here are some quick pictures before I head to a BBQ
This is about 20 rows of 75 into the mitten.
Last night I decided to learn to knit continental style and norwegian purl because I was working on something in seed stitch. Once I got used to having the yarn in my right hand (yep, I'm still knitting lefty, that cannot be changed) it went much faster. Not needing to move the yarn to the front to purl will make seed stitch and 1x1 ribbing much less painful.
I'd been meaning to learn both these techniques in order to start my first colorwork project. I couldn't keep myself from casting on around midnight last night, and now I have this:
The pattern is from last winter's IK, the Nordic Mittens. I decided to go with only two colors, instead of the rainbow effect in the original. I'm about 1/3 through the cuff and really looking forward to the colorwork once I get to the chart.
I've been trying to justify how these fit into my monthly goals posted yesterday, and the only way they do is if I give these away for Christmas. I don't know about that, but how often are mittens really necessary in SD anyway?
I also sent in my Knitty submission Thursday night. It's been over 24hrs and I haven't heard a no yet, so I'm optimistic.