Smittens

Well it sure has been awhile, no? What have you been up to? Me? Oh, just knitting up The Comfiest Sugary Softest Mittens EVER!

These are HelloYarn's Fiddlehead Mittens - I was testing them out in this lovely tweedy colorway, using Rowan Scottish Tweed DK, with a lining of Blue Sky Alpaca Brushed Suri. These things are Hard Core. I believe they may be impermeable to the elements. They are adored and coveted by both gay and straight men. They are softer than you could ever imagine. They had a better photoshoot; pictures are here.

These knit up right quick. I started them last Friday, accidentally got waaaaaaay off gauge and knit what was essentially an oven mitt, then knit 2 more at normal size. I got sucked into a Law & Order Marathon and managed to complete an entire mitt in record time, while Mariska & Chris cracked the case(s), and, with the help of Judith Light and Ice-T, put some people in prison. I ended up going down to size US2 needles for these. The linings make me swoon they are so soft.

Meanwhile, in non-knitting and non-L&O news, I've been, as usual, thinking a lot about knitting. What have I been thinking? Well, I suppose I have really been looking more - I have been perusing pattern books, re-evaluating some UFOs, fondling yarn a bit. I've been spinning a bit as well, and thinking more about how *I* want things to be spun rather than how the fiber wants to be spun. I've been.......trying to put all of the pieces together, rather than dealing with them on an individual basis and hoping that they fit. The end result? Unknown. Maybe this is just an extension of my non-knitting January/February trend.

I have to go bask in those mittens before spring comes along!

2000 Yards of Lace, 2 Podiatric Garments, A Quilt.

Well, it's been awhile hasn't it?

I've been continuing in my plan to semi-ignore my holiday crafting tasks. Well, sort of.
I managed to finally get around to machine-quilting this quilt-top that I have had kicking around for some time now - next, to put on the binding.It's been easier to work on non-thinking projects. I present to you my variation of the "Azure" socks from the Winter Knitty, made with STR "Cluckers" colorway:
These are on US0, toe-up, blah blah blah. Going pretty quickly.

But I've really been wanting to get another lace project on the needles, so I spent a pre-snowy evening winding up a bunch of lace:That's A Touch of Twist Lace Alpaca in Lavendar, Malabrigo Laceweight in Verdes, and HelloYarn lace in Acid Green.

And while picking up that ball winder, Max also presented me with the Marie Antoinette Honey Bee kits we ordered! We're planning on working these up as a KAL, but Max said sure get to it. So I'm going to do one, and then wait on the second one until Miss Max is ready to go.
So far, I've got the lace cuff done and grafted, and I picked up along the edge.
My notes on this so far: the pattern is EXTENSIVE. It has everything written down and charted, which is great, but mildly confusing (there's just so much there! in so many different formats!). I ran into a very quick brief confusion on the edge lace chart - Row 3 features a BO2, K1, P3.......it turns out that the K1 is the stitch that you loop the second BO over, then go right to the P3. Easily amended. I'm loving the loop pick up thing on this. The yarn is a dream to work with and the color is amazing. It's fun so far, and has a fair amount going on to keep me interested. Well, until I get to a big lace project.

What else is in store for me? More quilting perhaps - I may try and get another quilt done in time for the holidays, but I'm not counting on it. We'll see.

Oh! And cataloging my stash for Ravelry! Max and I plan on Knit-From-The-Stash in 2008 - anyone want to join us? We'll be posting our rules (right, Max?) once we get them solidified.

I Spin, I Knit, I Block, Repeat..........

I figured the best way for me to learn more about this spinning business would be to sign up for Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club - in which I receive about 4 oz. of hand-dyed fiber a month. It seemed this would be a great way to familiarize myself with different types of fiber, and branch out in the world of color to places I might not usually travel to. Well! I got my first bundle the other day, and had a blast spinning it (wish I had "before" shots, but alas.....):

Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club July 2007

"Celebration"
4 oz / 345 yds.

I'm quite pleased with how it came out - it is, for the most part, consistent in weight and twist, and the colors are pretty awesome - it reminds me of the bright/muted tones of salt-water taffy. Can't wait for next month! In the meantime, I signed up for Fiber Club at Hello Yarn as well. While visiting Hello Yarn, I managed to pick up some of this:

Lovely, no? I split this lengthwise a few times and started spinning - I'm hoping to end up with something similar to the Spunky yarn. I've got one bobbin full right now (sorry, no pictures) and hope to fill up another one tonight. I am a sucker for brown and teal and blue together.

In the world of knitting, I decided to NOT wait 4 -5 - 6 months to block the Icarus shawl; I figured it took long enough to knit, and at this point, I just didn't want ot have to deal with it anymore. So, blocking:


No good full-shots. It is off the boards now, but it was too rainy the past couple of days to get any lovely model shots. Oh well. soon enough! It turned out to be a little bit wider than my wingspan, and the alpaca fluffed up justenough - no loss of stitch definition, and not so fluffy that it gets in your mouth or anything (in general use, not in shawl-eating or any such).

Also: Hanami progress:
This pattern is so freakin amazing and fun to work on. Since it is so organic, it's alright if you mess up a little bit. I know I missed a stitch here or there, moved a stitch or two, but the pattern works with you - and it goes super duper fast! And the Lacey Lamb yarn? Buttery.

I am working only the Cherry Blossoms portion of this shawl (no basket weave). The pattern has you work the blossom charts out to one end, then pick up and knit the other end - so, center out. I figured the whole thing was non-directional enough that I could just flip the charts over and work them upside down. Seems to be working out for me just fine:My handy row/chart marking device? It is a magnetic knife-edge guard for kitchen knives. My roommate-chef left one hanging around and I hopped on it - IDEAL for such things. I just fold up my pattern to fit and snap the magnetics on the row I need. It fits in my bag all handy-like, as well.

Next up: my lace obsessions continue! Max & I should be casting on for Wing O' the Moth on Sunday; I'm already planning my next 4 shawls.

Lace Lace Lace

The Icarus Shawl has been defeated. Well, it's off the needles at least, now I just have to block it. I did not run out of yarn!

Once past the first chart, I flew through this puppy.
Upon completion of bind-off, I immediately cast-on for Hanami:
I'm knitting up Hanami with Lacey Lamb Extrafine lambswool in a Seafoam colorway. This yarn is amazing - it is buttery soft to the touch and has quite a bit of elasticity. It's already proving a joy to work with, and I think the stitch definition is wonderful. I'm using US 3s. The Hanami pattern is originally a basket weave pattern on one end and a cherry blossom motif on the other - the pattern also includes directions for knitting only one or the other. I plan on knitting only the Cherry Blossoms part. The pattern calls for a provisional cast-on and knit one end, then pick up and do the other. I am an impatient, not-into-that-fidgety knitter, and after looking over the Cherry Blossom portion of the pattern - no more than a series of yos, k2togs, and ssks - I figured I'd take a stab at knitting the pattern upside-down. Well, knitting it right side up, but reading the charts upside-down. You know.

This is (so far) a fast fast fast knit. I'm sure my love of this yarn is making it easier. I'm hoping (trying, striving, aiming) to have this done in a quick enough manner that it will not interfere with the Most Knit-A-Long of all Knit-A-Longs that will be the Wing O' The Moth with Max.

I love lace knitting - I like the challenge of it; it keeps me interested. The start of a lace pattern is intriguing, to see how the stitches are going to come together and fall into place. When you can read your knitting and see where things went wrong, see what has to happen next - it's pretty awesome. And, of course, the blocking. Which, in and of itself is pretty boring and annoying, but when you take out hose pins and wires...........Yowzah!

In spinning news, there is no news. I haven't been spinning much this week, but I am itching to get back to it. I (unnecessarily) picked up a bit more roving - I'm looking forward to some time to just sit down and plow through a bunch of what I have, really spend some time getting to know what I am doing, getting a better understanding of the fibers and the machine. While I am happy with the results that I am getting, I really want to know more about why why why the fibers behave in this way or that, and the role of the wheel, and the tension regulation, and and and......I want to own this skill, really embrace it, and completely and fully understand it. I know that's a lot to ask. I'm willing to give it a shot though. And everyone that I know who knits will gain the rewards of my journey through random bundles of randomly handspun randomness.

I WILL Defeat This Shawl

And finally, we have real progress! After slogging through Chart 1 of the Icarus Shawl (and I really, really mean slogging - I realized this weekend that I started this right before my cousin's graduation last June), I flew through Charts 2 & 3, and I am now about one quarter of the way through Chart 4 (the final chart).

It seems to be going well enough, though I am living in fear of running out of yarn. If it gets *super* close, I may check out Ravelry and see if I can pawn some off of someone.

But about the pattern, because I know that's what keeps you coming back:
This pattern is very clearly written (so far). However, the first part just goes on FOREVER - with really nothing to hold your interest. Once out of the Chart 1 doom, it went quite quickly and smoothly - I could really power through the rows. The lace pattern repeat is simple and easy to commit to memory - you can get into the rhythm of each pattern row easily. The pattern of the lace - this is in the knitting, not the charted pattern - reads quite readily; you can see it coming into shape and anticipate what will be happening next. All that being said, at this late stage of the game (row 7 of Chart 4), each row is taking me somewhere in the realm of 15 minutes to complete - I'm at 437 stitches, and this bad boy goes up to 523! This, my friends, is the triangular shawl dilemma...........

Nonetheless, I have my next 2 shawls lined up! I'll be working on Pink Lemon Twist's Hanami Shawl (maybe with beads! ooooooooh) and having a Knit-A-Long with Max for Anne Hanson's Wing O' The Moth (Now with X-TREME BLOCKING!!!!). It'll be the most knit-a-long of knit-a-longs ever - we've got the same beautifully green-brown dyed yarn from Hello Yarn to work with.

Progress?

Very little to report. Or it could be thought of as "more of the same".....

The other sock? Yeah, I haven't cast-on for that yet. Oh, but I will! Maybe this weekend. I promise.

I've been working a fair amount on the Icarus Shawl, though you wouldn't know to look at it. This shawl is triangular, and knit from the top center down, with 4 increases every other row. So it groooooows. But at a very very slow pace. The portion of the shawl that I am currently working on is dead boring as well - it has just enough going on that you have to pay a wee bit of attention, but it is not exciting at all. I want to get to the fun stuff! I want to get to the crazy lacey bits! But no - I think I have about 8 more rows to go of this first chart, which doesn't seem too bad, but when each row takes seemingly forever, it could be next month before I get there. I present this photo, which looks very similar to an earlier photo posted, but I swear I have been working on this:I have also hit the point in where I am starting to panic about if I will have enough yarn. This is Misti Alpaca (it is LOVELY to work with) and I think I have *just* what the pattern calls for (okay, just checked - I actually have one yard LESS than what the pattern calls for - 875 yds - but I think I may run out for REAL, not just by one yard) and I have read reports of people having run out. I'm not super concerned at this point - I know where I got this, it's pretty cheap, etc. etc. I just want. to. get. to. the. good. stuff. Dammit!

When not busy slogging through the dreadful boredom that is chart 1 of this shawl (almost as boring as socks!) I've been spinning spinning spinning like a mad woman! I'm working my way through the mystery wool from Amy, and working towards a thinner yarn. I *feel* like I am beginning to understand this spinning business a bit more - like I am on the road to owning it, but that road is very very long. Since this bag of fiber is kind of a mystery, I'm learning a bit about different fibers and how they want to behave for me. What I've really come to believe is the secret of spinning is this: tension. I feel if you can just get the tension of these 8 different things to all work together perfectly, things are golden. You just need the planets to align! And I would like to believe that I am working towards that. I've made a mini-skein of something resembling Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, which, if you have not worked with this yarn it is wonderful, and then I tried out some Navajo Plying which is pretty interesting, and I am pleased with the results of that as well. I can see what I would like to improve on in both of these, and now I just have to figure out exactly how to do that. Max has suggested that I spin at HER place, as she likes the smooth whir whir whir of the wheel. There will be pictures soon - it's tough to get clear pics that will give you some sense of the weight and texture of the wool.

This has all left me even more excited about Rhinebeck this year; I'll try not to come back with any animals.

Not Too Scanty Panty

Mon Petit Chou is complete! Well, aside from needing to pick up some pink ribbon for the side laces - I could only find this plum ribbon in 1/4", not the delicate 1/8" called for. Oh well!

I have to say that this pattern incorporates the decreases into the lacework beautifully, and the instructions for this are wonderful. I was interested in seeing how the short row shaping would come out, and how the lacework would be handled there:Seamlessly!

I made La Chou in the largest size available, in order to compensate for my child-bearing-hips. turns out not necessary! I had not counted on how much give the Cascade Fixation would have! I'll definitely need to run some elastic through these puppies to keep them up. I also had planned on knitting these to the...74 row height; I had completed the front to that point, but when I got to the first option for binding off on the backside, I found that I would no way no how never have enough yarn to get me through another 9 or so rows. So a-ripping I went - and brought the front back down a coupla rows, and left the back at that. I still had the "between leg interlude" to deal with, and that also was worrying me - the pattern calls for st st for 2 inches, and I know that st st tends to curl, and I knew that I didn't want any sort of interlude like THAT. So I put in one purl rib on either side - seems to work fine! Also, kitchener stitch instead of 3-needle bind-off.

So really, not that much change.

This all means that it's time to return to this beast:I've been ignoring the Clown Vomit Sweater largely due to the size of the thing now. It's practically complete, and that is a lot of wool to have sitting on you while you knit in the Summertime. Also, I'm just about to the point where I have to THINK, and there may even be some MATH involved, and anyway it'll be too hot to even WEAR it until the fall, etc., etc......

La Chou!

I finished the front of Mon Petit Chou, with minimal issue. I also cast on for the back, and linked up with the Invisible Cast On row. Meanwhile, Max has knit right up to Row 20-something! Let's take a look, shall we?


I'm finding the pattern to be....well, it makes sense, yes, but I am finding it could be simplified in how it is written. Take, for example, this very simple instruction:

Front
With straight needles, CO ...

Easy, no? But I find it....vague - in terms of matching gauge, in terms of knitting with what you have or prefer (I prefer circs, and almost always knit with them - better for commuting). My pea-brain would more easily translate this if written as needle size. It's simple enough to figure out, but I had managed to lose that first page, leading to much running about, etc.

I prefer lace patterns that are charted, so my issues with the pattern may simply stem from this pattern having been written out. The "voice" of this pattern is off for me; it is almost telling me TOO MUCH in many places, while leaving other things much...less detailed. For instance, I like having a stitch count every once in awhile, especially when dealing with patternwork and YOs and whatnot; it acts (to me) as a fact-check. Also, the pattern repeats as presented didn't seem to flow for me - I would have preferred if I was presented with "*blah blah *6 times" rather than "*blah blah, repeat from * 5 times". Again, just my personal opinion here - the actual knitting is coming out wonderfully, and it really truly is a cute garment:

I'm quite happy with the (so far) finished result! I think that the pattern manages to incorporate the (minimal) shaping quite nicely. I'm going to go with some pink ribbon for the ties. Though I doubt that there will be a model post here..............

Kniting Garden Party

Happy July - and stunning outdoor knitting weather! And eating as well (of course):Ginger Snaps, Prosciutto Wrapped Melon, Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives & Tomolives, Snap Peas, Pesto Bruschetta Toasties, and (not chown) delicious homemade Orange Florentine Lace Cookies, much Cheese and Crackers, Macaroons, and also, Raspberry Pear Tarts:After the initial feeding frenzy, to the Knitting!

I diligently plowed through La Chou......
....looks like lettuce, no?
...And helped Max get started on hers. The Invisible Cast-On seems to be one of those things that is so freakishly simple that you just cannot grasp it (similar to, say, a YO the first time you do it). The pattern, not being charted, is a nuisance to make sense of, but seems to come together after some initial hiccups. I think I'm finding it to be overly complicated in the wordiness.

While the knitting of La Chou is technically an -along, I cheated and cast on the end of last week, and made some progress prior to yesterday's knitting. I've found this to be a handy/helpful way of going about things; I can act as our knitting group's Beta Tester. I can get a grasp of the pattern and the "voice" it is written in, along with noting any errata or potential snags. I think it's my SuperPower - you know, for when I become a SuperHero. "Fixes knitting issues and patterns at a moment's notice!" What will my name be? What will YOUR name and superpower be?

Endpapers²

I finally got around to completing a second pair of Eunny's Endpaper Mitts. I had started and stopped a few times, with all different colorways, to no satisfaction. things just weren't contrast-y enough! I finally settled on some lovely orange and lilac Koigu - I absolutely adore this yarn! The subtle variations in the color add depth, and the yarn is quite springy and lovely to work with.
I don't know who else has made these; there are 3 sizes provided simply through changing needle size. So this second pair I made smaller - I think these are the smallest size? Anyway, I knit them using US 0 & US 2 dpn needles. They went quickly - I cast on March 9th and completed the second one March 19. I did not use the Tubular Bind-Off, nor did I use the Italian Tubular Cast-On. They don't seem to mind.

These are an early birthday present for my roommate - these pics are unblocked, and I don't think they WILL get blocked, as they've already gone on to their new owner......here they are being chummy with my original , well-worn pair: These are a really really great, quick project for people interested in trying out colorwork! The floats are all really small, the pattern is perfect and easy to read, they are portable enough to work on. The pattern also is easy enough to memorize - you can get the hang of it pretty quickly. These are pretty speedy - and on dpns the needles work to mark your "seams" and pattern rows.

So now what do I do with the remaining <1/5 ball of Koigu in each of these 4 colors?!?!?!?

squidalicious

There seems to be a theme... Squid iPod Cozy.

Naughty Squiddy

Has anyone seen naughty squiddy before? He's so super-cute!