It felt like a minute

Oh, Friends, where has the time gone? I'm having difficulty believing that I've been gone as long as I have, but so it is. Last time I wrote, I talked about my disappointing State Fair results, and showed you the beginning of a sock I was making for my mother-in-law. I've since completed the sock and three other projects.

First, the sock: it's the Rhombus pattern from CookieA's Knit Sock Love book. It ended up taking about six weeks to finish, and I ended up running out of yarn about 2.5" before I could close up the toes. A kind Raveler sold me a second skein of the gorgeous Sundara Sock, which allowed me to finish with enough left over to make some socks for myself.

Next I decided that I would make a point of knitting up the oldest yarn in my stash, partly as a way to clear out some space in my bins and partly as a challenge to myself. While I have a whole lot of some mohair boucle that I bought at a fiber festival some years ago, I knew I could find a pattern for the silk/bamboo hand-dyed sport weight that's been in my stash nearly as long. Anyway, believing that I had a mere 450 yards of this yarn, I cast on for the Glitz at the Ritz shawl, which I thought would use up both skeins. I got through nearly the whole shawl before I realized that I'd underestimated the yardage of the skeins, leaving me with nearly the whole second skein upon completion of the shawl.

Knowing that I likely didn't have enough yardage remaining to make another triangular shawl, I decided that a rectangular scarf would be the way to go. I could cast on and knit until I ran out of yarn, hoping that the yarn's slinkiness would help once it was washed and blocked. I used the Shimmer Wave scarf pattern, which had an easy-to-memorize repeat and traveled well. I mostly worked on it during my commute to work every day and occasionally in meetings and waiting rooms. It took a mere three weeks to complete, and I've already given it to a coworker.

Lastly, I restarted the Streymoy sweater I'd had so little success with last winter, but I think I'll save that for next time. There's a lot to tell! Until then.

WIP it good.

All my WIPs continue apace. I seem to be a little all over the place lately with my projects, but somehow, bit by bit, they're progressing.

This week I managed to get to the halfway point in the Hanami stole. I'm really happy with how it's coming along. I like that the beads have given it some heft (as hefty as seed beads can be on an alpaca/silk lace stole) and I think it's going to drape beautifully once it's finished. I hope I have some occasion to wear it. Maybe I'll get invited to a wedding. Or maybe we'll go to the ballet. Or something. Of course, I'm not sure I have anything to wear with it, so I'll have to get on that.

Knitting. Tasty, tasty, knitting.

I've also made progress on my Rafters cardigan. Just this morning I completed the front shaping and now I'm ready to get everything all joined up for some progress on the body. It looks a little small right now, but I think that's because so many of the sweaters I've made for myself have turned out too big. Even if it's a bit small now, I'm pretty sure that blocking will relax some of the tightness in the cables. So long as I get gauge on the sweater as a whole, I'll have about an inch of ease.

Since my last couple posts I've frogged the blue socks for my friend, Dan, and started a new pair for him. I'm doing the Scylla pattern again, this time with a skein of Mountain Colors Crazyfoot I've had in my stash for awhile. In the skein, the yarn looked a lot more brown than it's knitting up. In the socks, I'm seeing more jewel tones, but I think it's still masculine. I hope he'll be cool with it. This is my commuting-and-waiting-in-line knitting and it's moving right along. I've probably got another two weeks with it before it's finished.

Of course, with three projects on the needles (four, if you count my unfinished Halloween costume), it looks like I'm not going to be doing any Christmas knitting. There just won't be any time. I have a feeling I'm still going to be baking up a storm, but it's already too late to be in time for Christmas. I will, however, be scouring my house for just the right contribution to our family's Dirty Santa exchange.

On that note, I'll sign off for now. Until next time, Friends.

Too many things on the needles!

It finally feels like fall here in Kentucky, and with the change in the temperatures, I've found myself casting on lots of projects. Since I last posted, I've swatched for and cast on Rafters, made one bad "chain mail" hood/cowl, and completed an acceptable "chain mail" hood/cowl.

I've been making good progress on my husband's Java socks, with just about an inch or so to go before I can do the toe decreases and sew the ends shut. I'm still very happy about the colors - they're gorgeous -and I like how the variations in the colors are distributing themselves around the feet. I can't wait for my husband to have another pair of toasty hand knit socks!

As for the Hanami stole, the progress is a lot slower. Here, I've been plodding along, doing a few rows here, a few there, generally trying to get through a set of beading or two before I set it down. The stole is beginning to look more like the pattern and I like how the beads are giving a little weight to the fabric. I'll be glad to get though this section though, and move on to a zippy stretch of stockinette.

My new sweater project, Rafters, is from the current issue of Twist Collective. I'm using the yarn I bought while I was in Michigan this summer, and I love what I've knit up so far. I had to go down a needle size to achieve the required stitch gauge, and though my row gauge is a little bit off, the designer has kindly written the pattern to specify lengths, rather than numbers of rows, so I should be just fine. I'm probably not going to use this project as commuting or meeting knitting, as the cables will require my close attention, especially since I'm doing the first two charts at the same time.

Lastly, now that it's October, I've been thinking about Halloween, and what I should do for a costume. In years past I've been Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas and Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls, making both costumes myself. I hadn't really planned on dressing up this year, but since I was invited to a party, I thought it would be fun to have something new. One of my favorite movies of all time is Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and my favorite Python is Michael Palin, so I decided that this year I would dress up as Sir Galahad the Chaste, complete with chain mail, tunic, sword, and shield.

So far I've only gotten the hood/cowl completed, and only after having made a really bad one out of a too-bulky acrylic. I used the Utah Shakespearean Festival pattern that I found on Ravelry. For the first one I followed the pattern closely, knitting it flatas directed, but I used a yarn much too bulky to look like it could be chain mail. It's pretty lame. For the second one, I used a cotton worsted-weight yarn (Bernat Handicrafter Cotton DeLux) generally intended for washcloths, but which I thought might drape a little more like metal than an acrylic or wool would. Using a thinner yarn made such a difference! The fabric is much more open, and if I can add just a hint of metallic color on top of it, it could look a little like tarnished metal. At least from a distance, anyway.


Well, that about catches us up for now. I still have to make myself a tunic, shield and sword in addition to some chain mail sleeves in time for Halloween, but it should be simple knitting and simple sewing, so I'm not all that worried. The shield and sword will take a little more doing, but I have access to lots of cardboard at work, so I just hope to be able to make those without too much trial and error. I'll post as I have more progress. Until next time, Friends.

My first attempt at beaded laciness.

I've been home from the lake for about a week, and what a week it's been. More changes at work, but at least it was only 4 days long since it's Labor Day weekend here in the US.

I took the yarn, beads and pattern to make the Hanami Stole with me to Michigan. I've had the Silky Alpaca Lace in my stash for what feels like ages (I've had it for two and a half years), and it's been intended for this project the whole time. I bought the beads for it while I was in Indianapolis in April for the Carmel Sprint Triathlon, perfectly matched to the cherry blossom pink of the yarn. Once I'd had a little time in the water, and a few cocktails, I decided the time was right to finally cast on.

The pattern called for a beaded cast on, which is something I've never done before. It also said to make sure I had a crochet hook small enough to fit through the bead. Luckily, I have my mother's set of teeny, tiny steel hooks that she brought with her from Japan when she came to the United States in 1970. Before she married, she made lots of doilies with crochet thread. I think she still has them at her house. I had to use the size 8 needle, which I understand has a .90mm hook. It looks a lot like the torture devices my dental hygienist uses when I go for a cleaning. What's even scarier is that I have two hooks even smaller, with .75mm and .6mm hooks. I'm sure I don't want to see the thread appropriate for any of them.

Anyway, I got through the beaded cast on alright, but I realized that I'd bought way more beads than the pattern called for, and that I wasn't ever going to use them for anything else. After reading the pattern through at least twice, I decided that I'd use beads in the "basketweave" section of the stole, placing one for every place that I had a centered double decrease. Adding these beads every so often certainly slows down the knitting, but I think that the stole will be prettier for it in the end. I got through two chart repeats while I was on vacation, but since I've been home I've gotten through exactly 4 rows. This is going to take awhile, I think, especially since I'm not about to work on this on my way to work. I'm just glad I don't have a deadline!

So, that's it for now, Friends. Until next time.

Summertime, and the knitting is easy.

So, Friends, I've been away for an age, it seems, and even though I never wanted to be one of those bloggers who starts a post by apologizing for my absence, I guess I just became one: I'm sorry I've been gone so long. My work has been pretty hectic for the last month and a half, so that by the time I get home at the end of the day, I can barely decide what to have for dinner, much less write a coherent blog post. I hope it's at least some consolation that I have been thinking about posting often since I was last here, and really wishing I were posting more.

Anyway, since the last time I posted, I finished my Lanata cardigan, which I love! The sweater ended up draping beautifully and it fits just right. I was able to re-use the buttons from the Peasy cardigan, with a few left over for some project in the future. I really love the Rowan Revive yarn, that I've now used for 3 or 4 projects by now. The next time I'm in Indianapolis, I'll have to take a look at the current colors and see what's out there. I'd really love to have another Vesper (one that fits, since I've lost all this weight) and maybe something sleeveless, too. As for Lanata, I love the way the lacy bits ripple up and down and I love the 3/4-length sleeves. The only thing I think I would change, if I ever do it again, is that I would probably change the shoulders/sleeves from the raglan style, which never really looks as nice on me as I'd like, to a more traditional shaped shoulder and set-in sleeves. I prefer raglan sleeves on smaller frames than my own - on me, they tend to be too wide and end up wanting to slide off my shoulders. I might even try to add the lacy bits on the sleeves as well - they feel a little heavy compared to the lightness of the body of the sweater.

I've also made progress on my most recent Alhambra scarf that I'm knitting up from the rest of the Jade Sapphire cashmere that Cindy gave me to finish Portico. I've been doing a little here and a little there, and bit by bit it's nearly finished. I probably have enough yarn to do two or three more pattern repeats, after which time I'm going to have to figure out some new commuter knitting. I just can't say enough about how lovely and soft this scarf is coming out - it's cashmere, after all, and even though it's been hotter than Hades here lately, this project has been a pleasure to knit. I'm going to kind of miss it when it's finished.

So that's all I've got for today. I have another triathlon this weekend, for which I've trained minimally, but for which I have a little more motivation to do well. My sister-in-law has recently started chemotherapy to fight non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, so I'll be wearing the t-shirt her husband had made up to race in her honor (my husband will be wearing the shirt too). I've also painted my nails lime green (which is the lymphoma awareness color) as a reminder to myself not to give up. Susan and her family have many challenging days coming, but I know she's tough, and has the best support around. I haven't done any fundraising as part of this race, but if you'd like to help fund research to cure leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers, here's a link to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's donation site.

Until next time, Friends.

The House Cup!

Well, it's Day One of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, and the fine lady behind Eskimimimakes who has kindly organized the whole thing has also provided prompts for everyone this week. Today's prompt, The House Cup, has asked us to identify which of four houses (a la Harry Potter) we expect we'd be sorted into.

The four houses are Bee, Manatee, Monkey, and Peacock whose descriptions you can find here. Once I had a good think about it, I decided that the Sorting Hat would place me with the Monkeys, as the most important requirement of any project I undertake is that it has to challenge me. I also think that I'm intelligent and fun-loving, but that's kind of a tacky thing to admit about oneself. Anyway, yes, I like to be challenged in my knitting and I like unusual construction and learning new skills.

Just looking at my sock knitting projects, it's pretty clear that I have to have an interesting pattern. Even when I've knit a stockinette sock, the technique was a challenge (Anne Berk's intarsia in the round). There are multiple examples of lace knitting in my sock projects, most of which I think look more challenging than they actually were. I've also done plenty of cabled socks, including Bex, which I've done twice. (I can't even say how many green u-cable needles I've lost over the years - since they only come in a set of three sizes, I must have a gross of the pink ones and white ones scattered throughout the house!) I think the challenge factor gets upped on all these projects because I always knit my socks two at a time. It's not always the easiest way to do it, but I'm pretty sure that I'd be one of those people who suffer from Second Sock Syndrome, were I ever to let myself do one sock at a time.

So, there it is: I'm a Monkey. I think if we were talking about Hogwarts, this Monkey would end up in Ravenclaw House, mostly for the degree of difficulty of the projects I take on. I suspect that Manatees would end up in Hufflepuff House, since they're so easygoing and gentle. Peacocks, I think, would likely be Slytherins, not because they're evil, but because I would expect that cunning Slytherins would value the embellishments and sparkle that characterize the Peacock. I guess that leaves Gryffindor for the Bees, but I would say that Monkeys could be in that house too, since lace knitting without a lifeline requires a degree of bravery that I don't think Bees have.

Anyway, that's it for Day One. For Day Two, I'll see which of my projects is most appropriate as a Mascot Project. Until then, Friends!

Zipping right along

My Amaya sweater is really moving fast, mostly because it's stockinette stitch on size 8 needles, with minimal shaping. It's been a fast knit, so much so that I've already finished the front and the back. Why, as recently as Tuesday, I was halfway through the front and even though I left it at the office overnight Wednesday, I was able to complete the neck and shoulders last night. I'm saving the seams for Sunday, since that will be my next day off, and once that job's finished, I'll be able to finish the collar. After it gets a wash and a dry, I'll have a nice, new, Spring sweater - just in time for the comfortable weather we're finally starting to see.

Since I didn't have anything else on the needles Wednesday evening, in my desolation I decided (with a little prodding from a friend on the Facebook) to cast on Kirsten Kapur's Portico shawl. Mostly I chose it because it called for a mere 400 yards of laceweight that I could knit on size 6 needles from a skein of Jade Sapphire cashmere that's been in my stash since the Knit Nook closed. Decision made, I whipped through the first set of instructions before I went to bed.

The yarn I'm using is 100% cashmere, completely soft and very fuzzy, but different from the 55/45 silk/cashmere that the pattern calls for. I expect that my shawl will end up with a lovely halo, but without the nice smoothness and drape that the silk blend yarn will give. If I can finish it fairly quickly, I think it will be a light, airy layer to wear on the chilly mornings and evenings we'll have for a few more weeks. Otherwise, I'll likely have to wait until fall to wear it.

Well, that's all I have for tonight. Until next time, Friends.

Actual Knitting Content!

You've been waiting awhile, yes? Once I actually arrived in Portland, I got on the MAX and headed straight for my hotel for a shower. Except it took longer than I planned because I went the wrong direction and ended up at Pioneer Square. But, once I got my bearings, I got going in the right direction and checked in.

The first thing on my agenda was to get to the Oregon Convention Center to check out the Marketplace. I took a lap to check out all the booths before I made any rash decisions. There was so much awesome stuff! Signature Needle Arts was there, and their needles are really awesome. The only thing that kept me from buying any is that I really prefer a long circular to dpns when I knit socks. As soon as they come out with a US1 needle, I'm all over it. There were at least two booths full of knitting books, one of which had the most excellent Japanese stitch dictionary: 1000 patterns for $119. (Honey, if you're paying attention, you should consider this a hint.) There were also vendors of glass, wood, and carbon-fiber knitting needles; spinning equipment and roving; buttons, stitch markers and yarn bowls. And a metric ton of yarn: hand-painted, hand-dyed, hand-spun and lots of commercial yarns and especially yarn from indie dyers. I bought plenty of stuff, but I think I'll save that for another post.

After I finished in the Marketplace, I went up the escalator to attend the opening night reception, at which Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (AKA the Yarn Harlot - you might have heard of her) and Tina Newton (both of whom were collectively known as ST-1) were speaking.I have no idea how many people were there, but since I was in line buying myself two glasses of wine (it was a long line, I wasn't going to do it twice), I ended up at a table near the back with some nice people I met in the wine line. ST-1 had plenty to say about how the folks in charge of the Convention Center didn't quite understand what they were in for, how much fun the conference was going to be and how rewarding (and exhausting) it was to finally be under way.

The next morning I was scheduled for Anne Hanson's "Holes in our Socks" class, which was billed as an intermediate-level class. I think it was intermediate for sock knitters, but beginning for lace knitters. I have to admit, I probably should have chosen an advanced class, as many of the people in class were new to lace knitting and some had real problems with reading lace charts. What I found most interesting about the class was seeing all Anne's samples. She had many where she knit up the same swatch in multiple yarns, all of which behaved differently due to the fiber content of the yarn, its thickness, or how it was spun. It really impressed on me the importance of swatching and yarn substitution.

On Saturday morning, I had Lorilee Beltman's "Seismic Socks" class, which was about vertical intarsia in the round. It's a really neat concept and definitely a challenging technique. Lorilee had so many samples of finished objects that I was really excited to learn how to do this. I've had at least two of her patterns in my queue for awhile, but I'm so glad I took the class before I tried to knit the socks. They'll definitely be the better for it. I also have to say how much fun Lorilee is: when we were taking our picture together, we used some samples as sock puppets. We knitters are wild! Wild, I tell you!

On the last day of Sock Summit, I had Anne Berk's "Intarsia with a Twist" class, which was about working intarsia in the round. Seriously. It works. I can't wait to play around some more with this technique. I think that once I get a fairly basic sock down, I'd like to see if I can make cables work with the color changes. At Stitch 'n' Bitch last night, everyone's eyes were glazing over as I tried to describe the process, but I'm sure it's because I made it sound more complicated than it is. That happens to me sometimes. Anyway, Anne Berk is probably one of the most energetic people I've been around and her enthusiasm is contagious. I'm so glad I took the class.

It seems like I should have more to say about my non-class experiences at Sock Summit, but there was so much going on, it could take more text than you're likely willing to read to describe it all. There was a fastest knitter contest, whose winner knit something like 57 stitches per minute. There was also the Fleece to Foot Challenge, in which teams of 5 people had to spin the wool of some freshly-shorn sheep, spin it into yarn, then knit it into a sock. And most famously, there was the flash mob of some 600 or so attendees, who performed yarn-themed choreography to "I've Had the Time of My Life." It's on YouTube. I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot when it was supposed to start, and I was on my way to the Japanese Garden as it happened. Had I been there, I probably wouldn't have danced, but I would have cheered those who did. It was cute.

I think that's all I have for this time. Next time, I think I'll show off all the goodies I brought home from Sock Summit. Until then, Friends.

All Aboard for Sock Summit!

Well, so much for getting two posts up before I left - I didn't even get one!

Early last Tuesday morning my husband drove me to Indianapolis, where I got on a train to start my journey to Sock Summit. It was an uneventful drive, which started a little late because I forgot to go to the ATM and I couldn't find my neck pillow. (Yes, I know: First World Problem.) We got to the station with a few minutes to spare before boarding and then my dear, sweet husband turned right around and drove back to Louisville, fueled on a 20oz. can of Red Bull.

Once I found myself a seat (I had two to myself!), there was a short wait before we could depart. At one point, they cut all the lights in the car, and for half a minute, I was expecting Dementors to show up. It was pitch black both inside and out. But then the lights came back on, we felt the locomotive power up, and we were off!

I pulled out Damask, which only had about 1.5 chart repeats to go before I could call it done. I've been very pleased with how well this project has gone. No major mistakes, just one dropped stitch, which I was easily able to fix. I didn't even have to use any lifelines, which is not a practice I recommend, as lifelines really are your friends. The only thing I might say I was unhappy about would be that the front of my shirt was covered in alpaca fuzz, but it was not really that bad. As the train rolled along toward Chicago, I completed Damask while the sun came up over the corn and soybean fields.

Having grown up in northeastern Indiana, these fields are my favorite view. As a kid, I rode my bicycle for miles and miles on country roads surrounded by acres and acres of corn. I don't remember many fields with livestock, just crops as far as the eye could see, occasionally broken by a barn or silo. This morning, there was a mist over the fields, giving them a dreamy quality as the sun rose over them. It was a great way to start the trip.

Next time, I expect I'll be writing about my Peasy cardigan, which I cast on last Monday, in anticipation of completing Damask. I also had a little Sock Summit homework to do - I needed about an inch of ribbed cuff for one of my classes. Until then, Friends.