oh look, more yarn

I just realized that I never blogged about this yarn.

The fiber is some targhee top from Susan's Spinning Bunny. I'm not sure of the colorway, but I call it "Lilly Pulitzer." I got the fiber in a destash from Kari/Up The Mud Creek.

I spun it for Phoe in exchange for a beautiful chevron scarf. I haven't measured WPI yet, but it's the same fiber spun to the same specs as this yarn, and feels pretty similar.

I still need to mail this to Phoe, but my office moved and I no longer have a post office conveniently located near my office. And I've been spending most of my weekends doing homework, not errands. As soon as I'm done with school (three more days, not that I'm counting!), then I'll package this up and pop it into the mail for Phoe!

slippers and WIPs

Last month, I showed you this pile of slippers, pre-felting.

They've been felted!

For my mother-in-law (modeled by me):

(on Ravelry)

For Thom:

(on Ravelry)

For the Mafia's Little Man (a little big, but he'll grow into them):

(on Ravelry)

The pink and red ones are Araucania Nature Wool. I'm not thrilled with this yarn for felting. The slippers came out fuzzy and linty and a bit hairy. They look a little scruffy.

The green ones are Cascade Ecological Wool, and I love this yarn as much as I love regular Cascade 220 for felting! It's a bit thicker, and the plies seem rounder and have more of a "beaded" look than the 220. It felts down to a dense, smooth, even, sturdy fabric.

I've had enough of this pattern for a while! But, finishing these puppies knocked my WIP list from 8 to 5. Here's what's left:

1) A pair of socks for me. Working top down. Done with the gussets of both, and almost at the toe of one of them.
2) Seekrit knitting. In time out. Over half done. Found a mistake about 2/3 of the way through the part I have finished. Need to rip back or perform complex knitting maneuvers to fix.
3) Baby sweater. Ran out of yarn!! First time this has happened, and one of the only times I've bought yarn on line. Now awaiting add'l yarn. Should arrive this week.
4) Mafghan. Not a portable project. Need to work on this at home. Need to finish before warm weather makes working on an afghan an unpleasant project!
5) Vinnland sock. Not feeling the love. Might rip out.

I have a serious case of finish-itis. A rare disease, far less common than its cousin, start-itis. I want to get these off the needles!!!

So, some goals:
1) Socks: No deadline. Simple and stockinette, they'll get done soon.
2) Seekrit project deadline: April 15.
3) Baby sweater: I'll probably finish this as soon as the yarn arrives.
4) Mafghan: Finish sewing squares together by April 10. Weave ends by end of April. Add borders in May. (Heh, I should be able to do this!)
5) Vinnland: Frog, I think.

No more new projects until I'm down to just the afghan!!

WIP wrangling

Where do things stand in the world of wool? Ummm, unfinished.

The clogs of last week? Not only are they still unfelted, they are still sitting in the same place as last week. On the dining room sideboard. Yeah, I don't think hubby is thrilled with that location. (He's probably even less thrilled that my suitcase from SPA is still on the floor next to the dining table ... I'll have to do something about that ...)

I started some new stuff. A sock, for moments like these. (Please note the unintentional matching of the sweater and the sock in progress.)

(Regia sock yarn in one of the Kaffe Fassett -- rhymes with "safe asset" -- colorways. More deets on Ravelry.)

I also started a sweater for the little sibling of this dude. He's now two years old, and expecting a brother or sister in April. The parents are friends of mine from childhood. There were 4 of us who lifeguarded together, in three different class years, at two different schools. We all went in different directions for college. Several years later, Tracie and Chris ended up back in the same area, and coaching the swim team that practices at the pool where we all lifeguarded a decade ago. They fell in love and got married, and a year later had their first kid, and now #2 is on the way. (Can I get an awwww?)

Tracie and Chris are both teachers, and the whole family (including the much-loved dog) lives at camp for the summer, the same camp where Chris spent every summer of his childhood and college years. Tracie asked for a baby sweater that kid #2 can wear at camp when the evenings are chilly.

Chocolate brown superwash wool with puppy buttons? Check!

(on Ravelry)

I'm also doing some test knitting for a friend. I'll have to ask her how much I can say about it. Here's a teaser. I think she'll let me get away with this much. This one will take some time and a wee bit of brainpower, hence the stockinette projects featured above.

Oh, and ummm, I also have an afghan that needs some attention...

And another sock. Almost forgot about that one ... better get cracking.

I've been busy

I made my mother in law a pair of felted slippers (at her request) for Christmas.

I was afraid to felt them down too small, so I gave them to her with instructions to felt them down further if needed. She's a knitter, who has felted before, so I thought it would be OK. But, she was afraid that she'd make them too small and asked me to finish the felting and then return them to her. No problem ...

Until we had a power outage mid-felting. The machine turned back on when the power came back on, and I didn't remember to check the clogs right away. Ooops. They're too small now.

So, I made her another pair. Luckily, I had another skein of the upper color, and a similar color for the bottoms.

I figured that as long as I was felting one pair, I might as well felt some other stuff.

That's three pairs of clogs. The red ones on the bottom are for Thom, who tries to wear my clogs around the house, albeit with the back of his heels hanging out. I thought he needed some of his own. The green ones on top are for the Mafia's Little Man. She bought the yarn a while ago, and I volunteered to knit it up for her. (Who'd have guessed that she'd pick bright green yarn? Shocker, I tell you....)

I have more feltable wool in the stash (!) and was thinking that perhaps I ought to make another pair for me. You know, in case my current ones wear out. You'd think I'd be sick of this pattern by now, having knit 6 pairs, but I still like it :)

silver lining

Do you remember my Nantucket Jacket? The one I started in 2006? It's finally finished.

(As always, click to Flickr-ize and embiggen.)

It fits exactly as I intended. However, it does not fit right, which is why there are no photos of it on me.

Bear with me while I explain ...
This is the cover sweater from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits. I loved the pattern, but I knew I wanted to make some modifications.

1. I wanted long sleeves. It's an aran weight jacket, after all.
2. I changed the triangular gussets. In the larger sizes, the gussets don't make those nice triangles with a column of lace above. Instead, they decrease into large panels of seed stitch (see this example on Ravelry or on Flickr). But, I was drawn to the pattern because of the gusset/lace column detail. So, I knit the smaller size gusset but added additional cables to make up the width.
   
3. I then had to change the armhole shaping because of this. I'm a little fuzzy now on what I exactly did, although I have detailed notes in a notebook somewhere.
   
4. I made it a little longer than the pattern called for ... I'm not particularly tall, but I wanted it to cover the waistband of my pants so that I could wear it to work.
   
5. I grafted the seed stitch collar rather than three-needle bind off. I thought it would look more finished that way.
   

I swatched and calculated and worked out the maths to figure out exactly what size I wanted to make, and how to get that size. And, I got exactly what I calculated for. (Come on, did you expect anything less? I was on the math team in high school, for chrissake.)

But, I failed to take several things into account.

1. The fit of the garment. I thought that an aran weight jacket (i.e. that I could layer over other shirts) should have about 3-4" of ease. With 20-20 hindsight, I realize that the model is probably wearing a sweater with little or no ease, or perhaps even negative ease. (Side note: I wish that Knitting Daily would post one of its fit galleries for all of IK's sweaters! So useful to see how the same size sweater looks at different ranges of ease.)
2. The cabling details of the sweater. There are purl stitch columns between all of the cable details, which makes the overall design act a little like a ribbed fabric. I don't think I stretched it enough while measuring gauge. So, the edge of the armhole is about an inch or two down my arm instead of where it should be. And the whole sweater is wider than I planned. It's just a smidge big when it is laying flat to block, but it grows a lot when I put it on due to #3, below.
   
3. The sproing factor of the yarn -- Berroco Pure Merino. This is some seriously bouncy, springy, stretchy yarn. If typical wool yarn has the bounce of a tennis ball, this stuff acts like one of those crazy super bouncy balls that we played with as kids. You would think that this makes for a good garment -- and it does -- but it also means that the yarn stretches easily. It bounces back, but acts like a slinky -- stretches and springs back, stretches and springs back. Not quite what I expected.
   
4. Most importantly, I didn't think enough about how this design would look on my body. As Maryse and the Mafia and I discussed recently, I'm an apple. My waist is almost as large as my hips are. Because of the gussets, this jacket flares out along the bottom. So, on me, there is extra fabric at the bottom and it just hangs there. It almost looks ruffled. NOT the look I was going for! Waist shaping = good, but ruffles = bad.

But, every cloud has a silver lining, right? My mother-in-law -- the one who taught me to knit! whose LYS is Webs! -- tried it on. It looks like it was made for her!! I'll try to get a photo later -- she was sick when she was at our house last, so I couldn't inflict a photo shoot upon her at the time.

I'm going to give her the sweater. In return, she offered to buy me a sweater worth of a comparable quality yarn. Sounds like a good trade to me! And it works nicely with my Knit From the Stash 2008 rules!

But, before I give her the sweater, I might enter it in some fairs. It think it's one of my best pieces of work. I paid a lot of attention to the seaming and finishing. I crocheted that damn edging no less than 4 times before I liked how it looked. I also learned how to graft seed stitch for the collar. I found just the right buttons, and I very carefully wove in all the ends. Superwash wool + large sweater with large collar + 92 yard skeins = lots of ends!

While the sweater isn't what I hoped for, I learned a lot from the experience. I'm glad that it will go to someone who will love it.

FO, FO, FO, Merry Christmas!

Yesterday, I promised to give an update on my Christmas knitting. I don't have the name of my knitting war competitor yet, so I don't want to give away too much information. I will, however, tell you that I finished three projects since Wednesday. One is a Christmas gift, and 2 are not.

Not a gift #1: Socks for me! Insane and striped. Perfect antidote for the winter blues. (Regia self striping yarn, size 1 needles.)

Gift: Ornament, to be sent to my inlaws in Wisconsin. Looks much nicer in natural light, but we won't see that at home until next weekend.

Not a gift #2: Mittens for Soaring Eagles. (Debbie Bliss Chunky Donegal Tweed, size 7 and 9 needles.)

Back to the holiday knitting. I'm off for now. Ciao.

gifties

I have been a lucky blogger this fall. I got all sorts of nice gifts and contest prizes recently. This is a long-overdue thanks for all of them! Sort of in chronological order, as best as I can remember ...

The first prize is from Susan from KitKatKnit, who had a contest to see who could guess how many photos she would take on her trip to Alaska. (By the way, her gorgeous photos, not all 830 of them, but many, can be seen in a Flickr set.) She sent me some squishy chunky tweed to make mittens with, and a cute sheepy tape measure. Oh, and some chocolate and candy, but that's long gone.

This morning, I used the yarn to cast on for a pair of mittens for the Soaring Eagles Project.

I'm shamelessly using blog-contest prizes to knit something to enter in another blog contest. If you knit a pair (or more!) Sandy will enter you in a contest -- she'll custom knit a pair of mittens for the contest winner!

Back to the prize patrol ...
Maryse sent me a skein of Mama-E C*EYE*BER Fiber sock yarn in the Jolene colorway after I donated some hats to the store where she volunteers. (I've used some of this already -- you may recognize the yarn from the Wooly Legs.)

Then, I won a contest at Bertha's blog for guessing the name and color of her yarn. In return, she sent me some yummy ShiBui sock yarn in the Wasabi color. And some chocolate with raspberries in it. Also gone :)

I think these will become socks for a friend who wears a lot of this shade of green.

Then, for no reason at all, Haddy brought me back a little present from a trip to Spunky Eclectic -- a sparkly yellow batt. It will match perfectly with some silk roving I got at Rhinebeck.

I also won a superwash sock batt from Farm Witch, who sells her batts and other fibers through her etsy shop. It too has a bit of glitz, and I can't wait to spin it!

Also, I won a contest at Cara's blog, and I'll be getting a skein of Socks That Rock from her.

THANK YOU ALL!!! (So much for stash busting, huh?)

yarn/design suggestions needed

So, Boss Lady has declined all of my Christmas gift suggestions. Instead, she's requested a pair of convertible or "flip-top" mittens, like these or these or these. And, like last year, she was specific in her yarn request -- soft, black, and not too bulky.

So, two questions:

1) Any suggestions for a good soft black yarn, probably DK or worsted, maybe aran? Yeah, I know there are tons out there, but I'm feeling lazy and I want to know what YOU think would be good. It would be even better if it is available widely, or at Webs (I'll be there soon.)

2) Again, being lazy, I'm thinking of making the "inside" part, underneath the mitten flip top, like mittens (i.e. all 4 fingers come through one opening) instead of the more popular "glitten" style of 4 separate finger tubes. Is there any reason NOT to do this? Do the individual glove fingers keep you warmer or function any better?

Inquiring minds want to know.

wooly legs

Remember this WIP photo from Saturday?

It's sock yarn, but it's not socks. This is the finished product:

Still not sure what they are (turkey drumstick cozies??)? Let me call upon the able assistance of the Wooly Babe to model for you:

As you might know, the Wooly Babe will be wearing this harness for 6+ weeks to treat developmental dysplasia of the hip. Unfortunately, the harness makes her wardrobe choices somewhat limited, as she can't wear those cute little footie baby one-piece outfits. Or pants. So, she needs something to keep her both warm and fashionable.

Pattern: Wooly Legs (Ruth's improvised pattern ... scroll to the bottom)
Yarn: Mama-E C*EYE*BER Fiber Signature Sock Yarn in "Jolene"
Needles: Addi Turbo and Knitpicks DPNs, size 1.5
Gauge: close to 9 sts/in

Wooly Babe, hope you are warm and toasty!

back in the saddle; now with photos!

Remember the dead Muppet pelts of last week? Not one to be easily defeated, I cast on for some more clogs.

These ones are for my mother in law, for Christmas. They are all done except for the felting. They went pretty fast -- less than a week. The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool in pink and gray. I did some Ravelry searching and others have been successful with this yarn/pattern combo, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will work well :)

I also started something else new ...

Details to follow when they are complete. I finished the one shown above, and have cast on for the mate. Hint: they're not socks!

long time no post

Yikes! It's been a week since my last post.

In that time, I started and finished a project. I tried taking photos, but we leave home while it's still dark and come home after it gets dark again, and that doesn't do much for the quality of the photos. Nor does having the camera battery die on the first photo.

I'll try to get some pictures this weekend. I've also started another special project, and hopefully I'll get some shots of this one too.

Laters. Have a good long weekend, for all of you who get Monday off.

welcome, baby Amalia

Just about a month ago, my childhood best friend had her first baby, a little girl named Amalia.

(Look at that fuzzy little head!)

Of course, some handknits were in order.


Project specs:
Pattern: Sirdar 1564, "Round neck cardigan with frill edges"
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, 2.5 skeins, in color 007 (I think)
Needles: Size 5 and size 3 Addi Turbos
Gauge: 22 sts/in in stockinette, I think
Posted to Ravelry.

I'm almost at the end of the Spey Valley socks (just one toe left to graft, and ends to weave in), so perhaps there will be another FO soon. However, since grad school classes start tomorrow night, don't expect a lot of knitting to happen this fall. Or spinning. Or blogging. Or blog commenting. Or housecleaning. Gah.

Oh, and I just heard from my Sockapalooza pal, who tells me that my socks are finished, and just need to be blocked and mailed, which should happen early next week due to a business trip next week. Perfect -- that will be just in time for fall weather and sock season :)

on vacation

I've been on vacation this week, but not away. I got lots of stuff done, but I didn't feel like blogging, though I've got stuff I could talk about. Next week, I guess.

In the meantime, let me at least post a photo. Baby socks, in Socks that Rock. Does the colorway look familiar? Yes, these are made with the leftovers of the socks that Ruth, my Sockapalooza pal last year, made for me.

Since Ruth is expecting a wee one next month, I thought that this might be a fitting gift. I didn't know Ruth before sockpalooza, though she lives near me and I read her blog. We've now gotten to know each other better, and have actually spent time together in person, which is great fun.

(I actually made the socks quite some time ago, but Ruth and I got together yesterday, so now I can post the photo!)

gifties for Liam

One of my buddies from college is having her first baby any day now. So, I whipped up a hat and booties for Liam, the baby, this week.



Project specs:
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino light blue (202) and gray blue (207).
Needles: bamboo DPNs, size 4 and 5
Gauge: 6 sts/in (hat) and slightly smaller for booties
Pattern: my own pattern for the hat, and Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties* for the booties.

My friend liked them, and I now hope that they will still fit when cold weather comes along in the fall!!

* The pattern for the booties had several errors. I like how the finished product looks, but beware of the mistakes if you make this! I tried to contact the person who wrote the pattern, but no reply. Also, the pattern is designed to be knit flat. I did mine in the round where possible.

Update: The pattern has been corrected!

socks on blockers

A couple of days ago, I blocked my Saucy sockapalooza socks.

This photo shows off the yarn, and the beautiful subtle variegations. The socks look a little slouchy in the photo, but only because I was in a rush to leave the house, and didn't "pose" them very well!

You can see the tops of my new sock blockers in the photo. Here's a full-on shot:


These came as a gift from Becky at Leggy Creations. I nominated my good buddy the Mafia for a prize in a contest on Becky's blog, and she won! But, Becky was so super nice, she mailed us not one, but TWO pairs of sock blockers -- one for the Mafia and one for me. Wow!!

Becky sells beautiful handmade sock blockers. The quality is wonderful -- each has a unique design and is made of smooth, high-quality wood, with a substantial clear protective finish. I threaded some yarn loops through the holes on top, and I hang them up on a shower curtain rod or a door frame, on a plastic hanger with lingerie hooks, in order for the socks to dry. I can't wait to keep using these!

Edited to add: I really want to buy this. But I have so much in the stash and such a limited amount of time. Yes, I know it falls under the "sock yarn" exception to "Knit From Your Stash". But I don't need it, I just waaaant it. And I have other stuff that I need to spend money on ... But it's beautiful, semisolid (I'm really getting away from sock yarns that are multicolored). And handdyed="won't be produced again". Argh!!!

bloggy baby gift

A few weeks ago, I posted a photo of some baby socks that I made.

I also made a hat to match, and shipped them off to Gleek for her soon-to-arrive peanut. She has been a great bloggy-buddy, always leaving nice little comments at this here lil' ol' blog, and I wanted to send her something nice in return :)


Project specs
Yarn: Koigu (it's machine washable! really!)
Needles: Size 3 CP bamboo
Gauge: approx 7 sts/in
Pattern: none, just winging it :)

anecdotal

Yawn. I'm tired, so all you get is a random brain dump.

Manly Man Socks:
Manly man socks are at "manly man bobby sox" stage. Think he would like some anklets this year? (Note: I accidentally typed "manly man booby sox". I bet he'd like those even more!)

Nantucket Jacket:
I'm back to the Nantucket Jacket, and am *this* close to finishing the two fronts, leaving me with just the sleeves to knit. No photos now. I need to reconsider a collar shaping issue before I finish, and then I will take a photo. BTW, who designs an aran weight cabled jacket with 3/4 length sleeves? Cute, yeah, but not highly practical. I'll be lengthening those... With my speed, the sweater should be done just in time for spring :)

Knits in the wild:
Earlier this week, I was driving to pick my husband up at work (he works on Union Street in Boston, right near the Union Oyster House, for those who know Boston...). I saw someone all bundled up in a wool coat and hat and mittens and thought "hmm, those look like handknit mittens". Looked up to check if the hat was hand knit, caught sight of the face instead, and said "hey, I think I know who that is!" Looked back at the mittens. Yep, it was a pair of Charlie Card Mittens -- nay, the ORIGINAL Charlie Card Mittens -- spotted in the wilds, worn by the Subway Knitter herself. I tried to whip out the camera and take a pic of herr out my window (you know, the way she shoots other subway knitters' photos), but the light turned green, and I decided not to risk life and limb for a photo.

Awww ...
Remember the pillows I made for the Mafia? Apparently, the striped one has been "claimed" by Little Man as his own. He even brought it to daycare one day this week. Too cute!

Bag O' Snails

Earlier this week, the Mafia mentioned that she wished she had a project bag for her current WIP. Since she has been mad busy recently, yet still finds the time to listen to me whine -- with sympathy when appropriate and a swift kick in the pants when needed -- I though she could use a wee giftie.

I present ... Bag O' Snails.




Stash-diving at its best! The ribbon came off the wrapping of a present from Susan. The snail fabric was left-over from making boxer shorts for Thom. The brown and beige swirly print was left-over from making couch pillows this summer.

Fun, and quick -- less than 20 minutes! I didn't measure or iron a thing, and didn't obsess about details. And, I think it came out pretty damn cute!

boring grey man socks

Thom usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to gift knitting. His father has as many of my handknits as Thom does.

I've tried to rectify this situation, but Thom insists that he doesn't want a sweater right now. I already knit him a hat and mittens, and he says that one set is plenty. Although he would like me to line his mittens with polarfleece. Somehow, Lopi Lite knit at 21 sts/4 in (much tighter than the recommended 17 sts/4 in) still lets the wind through.

He has one pair of thick socks that he wears with boots and clogs. He thought he might like another pair, a lighter weight pair that he can wear to work. So, we went sock yarn shopping at Webs. (Reluctantly, I might add!)

This is what he picked ... a tweedy charcoal grey Regia. Here is the label -- I think this means "4-ply tweed".


I also bought 2 cards of a grey reinforcing thread to knit into the toes and heels. The one toe that I knit so far seems to be really sturdy -- I hope still comfortable, though!

Also shown are my new Stitch Keepers -- a birthday gift to myself. I love them! They slip over the ends of the needle and perform three important functions --
1) keeping the stitches from sliding off the needle when you put the WIP down, especially when in a bag
2) keeping the set of needles together, including the one "working" needle that often escapes when you put a project down
3) preventing the "porcupine effect" -- when your WIP has needles poking out everywhere, and poking holes in your bag!

I've started the second sock too, so that I can knit both together. However, I keep messing it up. The first one was too small. The second one, I wasn't paying attention and cast on too many stitches. The third time, I missed a wrapped stitch on the short rows and was off by one stitch. Hopefully, the 4th time I will pay more attention!

Koigu rainbow baby socks

Thank you for all my birthday wishes! For some reason, now that I have upgraded to the new blogger, comments come into my email box in a way that I cannot reply directly to them. I'll need to look into that. (I have no idea when, though, since I am about to go spend the weekend working on the new house...)

Thanks to those of you who let me know that the socks will fit a baby, if not at birth, then soon.

Wear them down...

Or wear them up ...
I've started a hat to match, too.