9 posts tagged “knitting”
I'm not exactly in the knitting blahs, but I am having trouble focusing considering all the projects swirling through my head. Here's a sampling:
Socks for Mark; socks for me. I typically only work on socks while commuting, with the exception of the tricky bits (turning the heel, setting up the gusset, or starting the toe), which I do at home. So, I've had this pair of socks for Mark on my needles since November. I'm finally on the second sock and working on the leg of this toe-up pattern. But, since my total knitting time per day on this sock is only about 40 minutes max, it's still going slowly. I can't wait until they're done, so I can start on another pair of socks for me!
Pillow covers. I really need some throw pillows in my living room. I bought pillow forms about a year ago and have some yarn in my stash that would make great pillow covers (a washable, wool-hemp blend, a superwash wool, and a washable cotton blend). I want them badly, but I'm not sure if I want them badly enough to bump them up higher on the project list.
Baby sweater. A guy I work with will be welcoming in his second child in just a few weeks. If I'm going to gift him with a sweater, I gotta get a move on.
Hat. Lillian (my MIL) saw my warm earflap hat and suggested that if I was thinking of doing a hat anytime soon, she'd love something that covered her ears. Winter will be over in just a couple months, so practically speaking, this needs to start soon, too.
Lampshade. Yeah, this sounds like a weird project, but it's one I'm trying out now. We have these table lamps we picked up at Ikea in the living room, and the cat went postal on one. The shade was just paper and it was totally wasted. However, it looked like it would be an easy knit to replace it. A simple tube, knit in the round in a combination of garter stitch and purse stitch. I started it last weekend before I had sorted out all the rest of these projects. Now I feel compelled to finish it. After all, the naked lamp is ugly at this point, and I hate letting things sit on the needles.
Sweater finishing. As I just said, I really hate to leave things unfinished, and I've had this one sweater sitting around awaiting final finishing for many months now. Now that I have a new "owner" lined up, I need to pick it back up and finish it.
Sweater starting. I so want to knit myself another sweater. There are several tempting patterns, and I've got plenty of nice yarn to play with. This is at the bottom of the list 'cause I'm sure it's not going to happen any time soon. But I can dream, right?
I have finished the sweater!
Neckdown Wrap Cardigan (#263) from Knitting Pure & Simple. Yarn used: Dream in Color Classy in color Good Luck Jade.
It seems like I've been working on this thing FOREVER. And I still need to block it (I think) in order to make the neck edging lay down completely flat.
Where do I start with explaining the challenges I had with this seemingly simple pattern?
I wanted to add waist shaping, but apparenly made this decision a bit late in the pattern. So, I ended up ripping back several inches in order to start at the right place (just after the underarm). Then I had to rip it back again when I realized I miscalculated when to start the increases again.
At this point, the "frog count" was 2.
After I finished the bottom garter stitch edging and cast off very loosely (using a loose cast off often used for lace: K1, slip stitch back to left needle, K2tog, repeat endlessly), I realized that the cast off was TOO lose. The bottom was sort of wavy. Hmmm...I'd fix that later.
Next, I picked up stitches for the first arm. Once I had finished all the decrease rounds, I tried it on. Hmmm...the arm seems kind of tight. I ripped it back.
The frog count is now 3.
My stitch gauge was spot on, so I decided to alter the decrease rounds a bit. Instead of knitting one round plain between the decrease round while do the initial decreases, I knit 2 rounds plain. I also decreased every 6th row, instead of every 5th row as called for in the pattern. The arm still seemed sort of tight at the top, but I was done with ripping on this sweater, so I just hoped it would feel a bit looser after wearing and/or blocking. If I made this again, I'd adjust the decreases again to be further apart, and I wouldn't decrease as many stitches, either.
I don't have large upper arms, so this issue with the sleeve width stumps me. Anyone else have the same problem with this pattern?
I would have knit the sleeves about 1/2 inch longer if did this pattern again. Even though I tried it on, because the sleeves were so tight at the top of the arm it was hard to determine the best length very accurately.
After the sleeves, I made the i-cord ties. The pattern calls for very long i-cord ties. I made them the length called for, then I tried the sweaer on. They were way too long for my comfort, so I ripped them back several inches.
Now the frog count is 4.
Finally, I undid the bind off on the bottom, tinked back the garter stitch border, and re-knit it on the smaller needles (US 7). I bound off in my usual fashion: Lucy Neatby's ingenious bind-off, which makes a decently stretchy bind-off for everything but toe-up socks.
Total frog count = 5
Is that bad for a hand-knit, custom fit sweater?
The fit is close and it accentuates my curves quite well, I think. However, I wish there was a bit more coverage on the back of the neck. Some short rows would have really helped there.
My final problem with this pattern was the yarn calculations. Even though the pattern said I only needed 1120 yards of yarn, I used a bit over 1250 yards on the sweater. I ordered a last minute skein from The Loopy Ewe so I could knit the i-cord in the same weight of yarn.
IF I had used my yarn extremely frugally (e.g. carefully left only the bare minimum length of tails needed to weave in ends) I may have been able to use only the original 1250 yards.
I guess that color name -- Good Luck Jade -- didn't work it's magic for me, eh?
But it looks great, doesn't it? :-)
Hey, look! I finished something this month!
It was looking like I wasn't making much knitting progress this month, but then I finally cast these off over the weekend. This is the second pair of socks I've made from that new Cat Bordhi book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters Book One. I'm trying to get used to her techniques for doing measurements and heels, and also ingraining Judy's Magic Cast On for toe up socks in my muscle memory. So far, I still have to consult the directions when doing the cast on, but I think I'm getting better at it.
The rest of the techniques are getting easier to figure out with each new pattern I try. I must say that these socks fit me extremely well. Is possible to say that a sock "fits like a glove?" Well, these do.
I used Austermann Step yarn and I do feel the aloe in them when I slip them on my feet. I've had this yarn marinating in the sock yarn bin for a while, and it finally called to me. I'd certainly use it again, although it would be nice if it was available in a solid.
I've started my third pattern from this book: I'm now working on the Riverbed socks for Mark in a very masculine shade of green Regia Stretch. Mark's feet are larger than mine, so it will take longer to finish these. But, I do have some travel coming up for work...socks are always awesome for travel knitting.
I'm also still working on the Neckdown Wrap Cardigan. If I hadn't had to rip back major portions of it TWICE now, then I would be nearly finished. But, I do want a sweater that fits well, so it's worth the effort I guess. *sigh*
First, I wanted to reflect on my biggest work in progress: me. I've been working with a personal trainer for a few months now, and I'm really starting to see the results. I've lost 9 pounds and have dropped enough inches that I can fit back into some really nice clothes in my closet. Yay!!
I also notice other changes in my body. It's much easier for me to resist crappy food (I totally passed on free donuts today), and I eat less. My food cravings are better and better: how about a craving for a date rather than a candy bar, or some peach slices rather than ice cream? Pretty good, eh? I'm going to keep going with this and enjoy the difference it is making in my mood, too.
Over the past couple days I've added a few more projects to my Ravelry page, including a few WIPs.
I've decided that I'm not into posting photos of works in progress, so don't look for any. Unless I'm trying to get feedback on something, I see no point to document my progress in photos. I'm much more interested in documenting the end product.
I usually don't have lots of projects going on at once, but I'm not being typical lately. I've got three different projects on the needles right now: a shawl, a sweater, and a sock. (Of course I have a sock on the needles! Socks are my purse project for when I have a few moments to knit here and there.)
The shawl is the Lace Wings shawl from Alice Cooley (pattern available from Lettuce Knit in Toronto...they'll mail it to you so no airfare required!). This is a simple lace shawl created for one skein of sea silk. I've had a skein of sea silk sitting around since I bought it at Stitches Midwest 2006, and I thought it was time to use it. The pattern is very easy to remember, so it's not a difficult lace project at all. But of course, it's still lace and looks quite impressive. I haven't worked on the shawl in a week or so, though, 'cause it started to get cool and I really wanted to get a sweater going.
The sweater is the Neckdown Wrap Cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple. I'm using Dream in Color Classy in the color Good Luck Jade. Yes, I know this combination of yarn and pattern has already been done by the Yarn Harlot. That's where I got the idea, OK? It's a brilliant combination of a simple pattern and a wonderful yarn, and she has many more years of knitting experience under her belt, so I'm taking the idea and running with it. I've been wanting a wrap sweater for ages. The last one I tried was a disaster, so I'm pleased that this one seems to be working out so far. I do think I will alter the pattern a bit and add some waist shaping, though.
I'm still intrigued by Cat Bordhi's innovative "sockitecture" techniques, so my current sock project is the Upstream socks using Austermann Step. Thanks to a day of knitting yesterday (took a day off work sick since allergies were messing me up so bad) and a couple conference calls today I'm already past the heel and into the leg.
One of the reasons I've got several things going right now is because I want to avoid starting new projects in October. So, this is going to sound totally superstitious, but I visited a palm reader at the Renaissance Faire and she said that Mercury will be retrograde in October, making it a bad time to start anything new. I recall that a few months ago when I was in the dumps with my knitting, it ended up that there was a retrograde. I'd just rather not take the chance.
I figure it will be fine finishing projects that I've already started, I just shouldn't start them. It will be a fine time for frogging projects, too, I think. So I also plan on ripping out that ill-favored wrap cardigan that I attempted a few months ago during the last retrograde.
Hold on, here's some actual knitting content!!!!
I've been pretty occupied with other things lately (work, chickens, taking care of myself) and not writing much about my knitting. But, I have an actual finished object to show here, folks.
Ta da! Spiral Coriolis socks from the new Cat Bordhi book.
I finished them last weekend, but am just now getting around to putting this on my blog. I've added it to Ravelry already, natch.
I used Koigu KPPPM in color P400 for these socks. I'd picked up this yarn in New York during the Yarn Harlot weekend Jamie and I spent there, but I can't say exactly which store it was at. The first sock was started on August 26, 2007 and completed one week later on September 2. (I got lots of knitting time in on the Labor Day weekend holiday!) The second sock was completed September 15, 2007.
I found the new "sockitecture" techniques in Cat's book refreshing and engaging, but it was sort of a pain to have to lug the entire book along with me all the time. The patterns reference different sections of the book, which makes it difficult to make a photocopy to carry. So, I had to flip from page to page as I completed each section of my sock (see page XXX for the heel options; see page XX for the toe options; etc.)
I did learn a lot from these socks, though. I learned a very effective way to make short row wraps disappear, for example. And I was very impressed that Cat has you measure that diagonal area of your foot between the heel edge and top of foot (what is that called??). I've had problems with socks fitting me (especially short row heeled socks) because that extra wide area wasn't taken into consideration.
I loved the Koigu yarn. Not just the dying, but the feel of it. There were a few places where the skein had obviously been joined (in fact, one of those areas is visible on the cuff) and so the yarn was a bit felted there, but I could forgive them considering all the other wonderful properties of this yarn. I'd love to knit a sweater in it, but that would be quite pricey.
While Koigu seems an affordable luxury for socks, I did use up all but the smallest amount (I mean maybe a foot of yarn left over!) of it on this pair of socks. So, if you're making socks for feet larger than my 8 1/2 US foot, definitely get another skein!
Just checked my personal email a few minutes ago and found an invite from Ravelry. Woohoo!!
I've only set up my basic profile at this point (hey, I'm supposed to be working right now, you know!), so not much is there yet. I'll try to find some time to update projects, etc. this weekend. Here I am: http://www.ravelry.com/people/windycitygal
Yay for Ravelry!
Last weekend is typically observed as the unofficial close of summer. I passed the Labor Day weekend soaking up as much time outdoors as possible, and enjoying every minute.
We were once again blessed with beautiful weather. It was sunny and not abominably hot from Friday through Monday. I had Friday off work in addition to Monday. My 4 day weekend was very refreshing.
Friday was spent relaxing on the porch with knitting in between doing a few odds and ends chores: washing and hanging out the slipcovers from all of the living room furniture, making a pot of chicken broth, and tidying up a bit in general. I've had the "wash the slip covers" chore on my To Do list since Memorial Day weekend in May. Luckily I work much more swiftly at work, or I'd be unemployed!
Saturday was spent at the Renaissance Faire with Adrienne, her "Iona sister" Tori, Rachael, Jamie, and a new knitting friend, Brooke. Mark elected to stay home since he didn't want to be the only guy. I didn't go overboard on anything at the Faire, although a couple of the gals (who shall remain nameless here) bought some lovely corsets that were quite dear. Walking around all day really tires one out, you know? I was exhausted and didn't want to do anything that evening but veg out.
Sunday I had my sister, neice, and mother-in-law over for a BBQ. It was one of my "everything is from the Farmer's Market" meals with lamb bratwurst from Mint Creek Farm, and side dishes (grilled peppers, foil-cooked green beans with olive oil and garlic, and foil-roasted fingerling potatos with rosemary) from Nichols Farm. Yummm...
And we wrapped up everything on Monday with a BBQ at my friend Betsy's house.
Whew!
I squeezed in lots of knitting time and finished up one sock in less than a week. The pattern was full of new techniques and was quite challenging, so I'm proud of that accomplishment. That's all I'm saying for now, and more info will have to wait until I'm done.
The chickens got lots of time outside their coop, and they are now pretty spoiled. I did a very thorough clean out of the coop on Monday, so they got to roam around the entire day. Mark took a few photos of them during their roamings. This one is my favorite:
A "candid" shot of Selma sneaked from the other side of the fence. She's filling in nicely.
I also got a lucky photo this weekend of a visitor to my garden.
I wonder how much longer the butterflys will be here.
This weekend was perfect. The weather has cooled down, the humidity has dropped, and the rain has stopped. I spent as much time outdoors as possible. Yesterday that didn't amount to much, but today I was outside nearly all day.
I'm getting into a routine now: get up shortly after dawn, let the dogs out, fill up water jug, open garage, then venture outside. I open the secure storage bin where I keep the chicken feed and Grub container and make sure it's got a generous amount of food in it. Then I step into the side yard and open the Eglu door. The chooks are right there ready to rush into the run; it's sort of like watching a horse race when the gate opens!
They are giving me annoyed sounding noises that they are impatient to be out and about and that I'm too slow to give them their feed. Then, I open the run door and slip in the Grub container. They are at it immediately; you'd think they had been starved for days! As they gorge themselves, I empty and refill their water container. Finally, I slip them whatever little scraps I've pulled out the fridge: some trimmings from the celery, chopped up stale bread, etc.
This morning I was able to rouse Mark at a fairly early time (about 8:10 AM) with promises of a fabulous breakfast at Lula Cafe if he just got out bed and onto his bike. Today was the farmers market in Logan Square, and I was in desperate need of eggs. But if I'm going to Logan Square, then I must make a stop at Lula!
Although we didn't hit the road quite as early as planned, we still were able to secure a table at Lula with no wait. Amazing! I was incredibly hungry since I'd been up for 2.5 hours already and only had one cup of tea with milk. Oh, and I had just cycled 4.5 miles, too. I dug into a yummy scone and savored a cup of coffee as I waited for my main course: savory corn griddle cakes with amarillo salsa, pinto beans, creme fraiche, scrambled eggs, and pico de gallo. Ahhh!!
We got to the farmers market about 30 minutes after it opened and I nearly fell apart when I heard that they were out of eggs already...until I heard that there was another vendor that just might have some. Yes, he did! I scored one of the last dozen eggs. Hopefully, I will not have to be so cranky about getting eggs for much longer.
After loading up so much last week at the Green City Market, I didn't need too much. I picked up some bread from the nice bakery guy, some plums, a couple bells of garlic, some scallions, and a cut up chicken. The chicken is still defrosting, so we didn't get to eat it tonight. Tomorrow it's going out on the grill.
We cycled home and put everything away, then I let the chooks out to graze for the afternoon. The grass in the back yard was incredibly lush, green and long from all of the rain we've been getting. Mark cut it and used the mower bag to collect the clippings. I dumped these out for the chooks and they loved playing in them. They scratched, they pecked, they ate a bit.
Mostly, they just hung out in the shady part of the side yard and pecked at greenery. There are a couple hosta plants over there that look quite raggedy now! No big deal; if there was anything I was really worried about I would have protected it from their insatiable greed for green.
The dogs are still much too eager to make the acquaintence of the chickens. I haven't tried to introduce them to each other any more for now.
I had a bit of a scare this afternoon, too. I was relaxing on the porch with my knitting, and I guess that was too far away for the chickies. One of them -- I think it was Selma, the smallest one -- flapped around and ended up sitting on top of the fence! I was alerted to this by the dogs, who had been laying on the porch, but keeping a sharp eye on the movement across the driveway. As the dogs excitedly danced around me, I quickly but calmly stepped out onto the driveway -- shutting the gate behind me so the dogs didn't follow -- and as I approached the fence Selma was sitting on, she casually hopped back down into the yard. I may have do some wing clipping!
OK, enough about chickens for now. It's time to reveal my knitting progress. I have two finished projects to show today.
First, a pair of socks knit in Panda Cotton. This yarn is soft and scrumptious. Click the photo for all the pertinent details on pattern, etc.
Finally, the item I was referring to in my last post: an easy, but pretty shawl. Again, much more detail available when the photo is clicked.
After so many months where it seems that anything I knit was doomed to fail, it really feels good to have 2 finished projects that turned out so well. I've already cast on another shawl and started swatching for another pair of socks. So far, boht of the new projects feel very "right" so I'm hoping that the time of bad knitting mojo has passed.
This may be true of many things, but at this time I'm referring to getting soaked by rain. The downpour was so severe this afternoon and evening that even with an umbrella it just didn't matter. I have a 1.5 block walk from my office to the train station. I used my umbrella, but was still soaked from the knees down and from the shoulders down when I walked into the station.
The station itself was like a mini-refugee camp -- commuters stranded by delayed trains due to the inclement weather -- but luckily the line my train runs on was operating on time. Almost a miracle when you consider that the sudden storm with wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour downed trees, limbs, roofs, assorted debris, and power lines across the region. I just wanted to get home to check on my "girls": both the canine and the avian variety. That's why I braved the the monsoon in the first place; I was really quite snug and dry at the office and could have held out for another hour or so.
The chooks are just fine. They had the sense to seek shelter inside their snug, dry Eglu. While they may have had to cut their dining/grazing time short (all the food is served up in the attached run and not in the Eglu coop itself), they at least weren't getting pummelled by wind-driven sheets of rain like some of us. The dogs were enthusiastic about my homecoming as usual, but also extremely anxious about the thunder and lightening. I've given them a bit of Bach Rescue Remedy, although I'm not sure how much it will help Hannah since she gets nearly catatonic in these situations.
Mark, on the other hand, had to do the most foolhardy thing. He decided that the storms were safely past us and that he could ride his bike home. Yes, he thought he could cycle the 10+ miles (about 1.5 hours) home safely without encountering any weather issues. Nevermind that by 4:30 PM the local news sites were full of reports of flooding, downed trees and branches, downed power lines, and general mayhem. And that more storms were on their way. No, he thought that he could just dash home before those new storms hit us. I was still stuck in the office and talking with boss at about 6:30 PM when Mark called me to say "I'm OK. I got caught in the rain riding home, but I'm stopped in a dry spot and I kept my phone dry." Stupid, stupid, stupid!
So, we both got pretty wet tonight. But we're safely home now, snug and dry. And I can reflect on the nicer things that have occurred in the past few days. Like...
- Completing a knitting project. That's all I'll disclose for now since I still have to block it. But the knitting was completed last night.
- Letting the chooks out to wander the yard for the first time yesterday afternoon. They had a ball! Look!
It was really quite difficult to get them back into the run, even though it was starting to get dark. They tasted every bit of greenery they could reach -- even the stuff that really isn't good for them (they seemed to figure that out on their own, too) -- and really streched their wings, too. Yep, it'll be difficult to keep them happy in their run after that taste of freeddom! The dogs, meanwhile, were kept in the house or paraded out individually on a leash to sit several yards away from the chickens. We're still not ready to mix dogs and birds yet. I guess that's more of long-term project!
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