][ Swatch out

You know how I basically never swatch?

I swatched. For the t-shirt doom blanket.

It’s a tossup right now whether I’ll use the 60” 11s or the 40” 36s, so I knit up a sleeve with each to see how they looked:


36 on the right, 11 on the left
Both garter, both 5 stitches across.

The 36-swatch is loose and soft, really preserving the feel of an old, worn-in T-shirt, which I really like. I think it would be nice to wrap around me when I want something to cover but don’t want something overly warm. However, it might be too light, and I feel like it’d fail as a picnic blanket/

The 11-swatch is much tighter, of course-- I think it’d be better for throwing out on the ground to lay on, since there’s less loose space between the stitches. However, it’s not nearly as soft, and the fabric is noticeably stiffer-- I can’t tell whether that will be an issue at larger sizes but it’s really noticeable in the little swatch.

The 36s have the advantage of being a novelty to use, too; the 11s have the longer cord, meaning I could probably knit the whole thing instead of potentially having to do it in strips and sew together.

The ideal would probably be to buy a new needle-- something in a ~25 size if possible… but that ain’t happening… so this needs a bit more thought before I start in earnest.

Hmn.

][ inspiration, or something

Worth noting: fronts cast on last night for the stripey sweater. Two at a time, did the contrast color off one ball but have one each of the main color.

THAT SAID.

I took the day off work today for varied reasons, and rather than do anything actually productive, I did this:


The remains of three old, ratty shirts which I was forbidden from wearing.
I'm terrible at ever throwing anything away, especially things to which I feel some sentimental connection. My favorite comfy t-shirts are one of the worst symptoms of this, and my roommate often chides me for strutting around the house in big old shirts that are, admittedly, more hole than fabric in some cases. So,I figured I'd use them to fill a purpose.

For a while now-- since this past spring, really-- I've wanted to knit a blanket. A big, lazy blanket out of the bulkiest yarn I could manage. Washable, because I want something I can abuse-- something I can curl up under in the living room, or throw out on the lawn to lay on. Something soft but not too dear. Of course, finding nice-but-ridiculously-cheap-yarn in a superduperbulky weight has not really worked out.

For a while the plan was a checkerboard green-and-grey blanket in that Billow yarn, but per my last post that's been given a new destiny.

But now?

T-SHIRT YARN, BABY.

Time to whip out my size 36 Addi Turbos...

(And actually, even with THOSE this may have to be done in strips. Unless I bump waaaay down to the 11s, the biggest on my interchangeable set, and use the 60" cable... Ah, well! We'll see what the fabric looks like on the Addis first.)

][ And on and on and on...

I will write semi-regularly. I will write semi-regularly. This is just about forming habits, it doesn’t matter if it’s thrilling or not.

So, just checking in with recent progress:


still lovin’ the colors
Back and sleeves for childHood complete. There seems to be an error, as the pattern (for the 1-2 yr size) says to cast on 54, bind off a total of 8, and end up with 42 stitches. After looking through the rest of it I cast on 50 since the other numbers seem to be consistent; so far so good, though really what’s the worst that could happen.

I knit the back wholly over the weekend, so it’s going pretty quick. Haven’t yet cast on the fronts-- which I plan to do two-at-a-time to minimize the chance for mismatched lengths. I’m rather dreading the button-band, I’ve never done one and this one looks a bit complicated since it’s two-color. I haven’t picked buttons, either, but as they’re meant to go over functional snaps, I’m leaving that til the rest is all done with.

The hood shouldn’t be too bad, aside from picking up stitches for it. I’m considering buying a Tunisian crochet hook or two from KnitPicks-- if they fit on my interchangeable cables, I bet they’d really help for this kind of thing, even though I have very little interest in crocheting.


And next up...
This isn’t knitting… yet. The four skeins of Billow I bought on an impulse with the vague plan for a checkerboard blanket caught my eye the other day, and after winding a couple of ‘em (which was fun, I can’t lie. They’re big squishy balls that barely fit on the winder) I realized I really didn’t have any interest in sorting out the intarsia or whatever for my throw, that I’d need to buy more anyway and I didn’t want to do that, and that I should have just about the right amount and the right-ish weight of this to make my other cousin’s little sweater. And that the colors were awesome for it.

I’m a bit concerned since some of the reviews on this yarn are pretty negative, but we’ll see. I think I can make it work, and if not, I’ll find something else to do with it. I really hope I can though because I adore how these colors look together and they’d be really fun in the pattern I picked out.


Most of a washcloth!
The tentatively-titled 6H continues… slowly. Honestly I just haven’t been knitting as much the past few days on the train, which means less progress on this sort of project. I have most of the pattern written up, and provided I actually like it when it’s done I’ll probably pop it up on Ravelry… though I’ll have to knit a second one if I do, to make step-out photos of some of the trickier bits. Ah, well. Burn that bridge when I come to it.


And that’s it. Yup. Still thinking of various other things but nothing in progress… I may ball up a length of my white lace-weight (not the whole thing probably, I expect it’s going to be huge) and spend some time knitting lace on the subway, if and when I get tired of wash cloths. But that sounds fiddly… I’m more worried about transporting and using tiny, sharp needles than memorizing the pattern, though. Still it’d be nice to have a stash of knit lace on hand to embellish anything I wanted, wouldn’t it?

But would I really use it? I can’t be entirely sure.

I don’t know, I don’t know. I guess I will see how all the sweaters (and my potential second 6h) go.

Til next time, kittens!

][ Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I was going to post an age and a half ago about the progress on my QR, but I finished the thing before I got around to doing so.


Yes, it scans! In fact, this picture scans even more easily than the object. Try it out if you like.
The steeked edges still look a little raw; I may eventually knit on a border, or perhaps knit outward from there and make it the center of a blanket or something, I don’t know. For now I’m content to call it done. It needs to be blocked, really, but one thing at a time. Definitely not getting that done during the work week.

I’ve decided to be good and move on to more Christmas knitting, because I know if I don’t, said Christmas knitting will never get done. I’ve never really done any-- one year a handful of people got scarves, but at least some of those were oh-crap-last-minute scarves, done up on my trusty #17s in the days leading up to the holidays. That was my dedicated BIG NEEDLES ONLY phase. Knitting entire sweaters, even sweaters for babbies, is a bit much to leave that long. And not really doable on size 17’s.


This is my cat absolutely not being helpful.
Actually, the 6s and 7s feel huge after a month of mostly knitting the QR on 2s. It’s kind of hilarious, really. Anywho, I cast on the sleeves (two at a time, knitting from both ends of both balls for the colorwork, because I’m an overachiever) over the holiday weekend… made great progress over the weekend and basically took the whole rest of the week to get anything more done. Hah.


And here are some sleeves! Gosh I love this color combo.
I do manage to get a row or two done each evening, at least, as I catch up on Welcome to Night Vale. Which is great for knitting to-- something I don’t have to look at, so even reasonably complicated pieces are an option. Not that the sweater is all that complicated-- I find it intimidating but only because I’ve never really done that before. Last night I got the length I wanted and bound off sleeve number one before passing out; tonight I finished off sleeve 2 and need to re-wind the balls again so I can move on to the next bit of the sweater. (I started with the sleeves because when I’ve made doll sweaters and the like, I find those hardest to concentrate on. I figured it’d help to get ‘em out of the way, especially as they’re one of the more finicky bits of this design.)


Gratuitous closeup.
My other ongoing project-- my subway knitting, by and large-- is knitting washcloths, as I mentioned last time. I finished my first and started a second at the Schoolbus Demolition Derby the other weekend, and have been continuing in that vein since. The tentative plan is to keep at it and have enough to give everyone one or two with a little bar of fancy soap as part of Ecksmuss festivities. I don’t care if these don’t come as a surprise, so they’re also good knitting for when I need to be around people I can’t knit my main project around.

Mostly I’m just dumping ‘em all in a perpetual WIP entry on Ravelry, though my current one will probably get its own entry eventually, since I think I’m going to write up its accidental pattern. It’s kind of cute.


Thinking of calling it 6H-- Hannah’s Happy Happenstance Handmade Herringbone Hexagon.
The shape is due to me not bothering to count and belatedly realizing I’d messed up the stitch pattern to include an unintentional increase on every row. Way to go, self. But, hey, that’s the happy accident part. The rampant alliteration is just me being a terrible human being.

Anywho, that’s the state of the knitting this week. Stay tuned for tomorrow next week next month whenever I next remember to actually update this, and I’ll try not to let it wait til next bloody year.

Wooohooo.

][ Call it textile speed-dating

I’ve written a half dozen posts about stuff I was working on / thinking about, only to end up scrapping them unused as I pushed past problems and finished projects like a boss. So a quick recap, with some pictures.

CHRISTMAS KNITTING


’Tis the season to have foresight
OFFICIALLY STARTED. These are posevantar, according to my grandfather. (I think). They’re modelled after the inner liners of the leather work-mittens he used as a fisherman; kind of a sentimental choice more than anything. The pattern I used was in Swedish, which of course I don’t speak (and even though I understand a bit when they’re talking, I definitely don’t read it, and I definitely don’t know knitting terms. I also think it’s a bit loose of a pattern.) They’re a bit too big but I hope he will like them. Honestly, if I can get a laugh out of it, I won’t mind if he never wears them. (I’ll get him something else, too, I just really wanted to make these.)

COOL KNITTING:


Hi-tech handicraft
Here is my Modern Day Defarge, a knit QR code that points right to this here blawgh. I’m doing it in the round and will cut and weave in the long floats, then steek and cut the fabric to make a big ol’ patch which I’ll probably just stitch down to a tote bag. If it doesn’t read, if I end up needing to re-knit it, I will probably do it in wool, though-- I think better blocking capability would help. I might also make a (second?) smaller one to see if it will read with one-stitch pixels instead of four, just to sate my curiosity.

The overall feel of knitting cotton took some getting used to, but I’m coming to like it and the fabric it produces is pretty attractive.

QUICK KNITTING:

In fact, between that and the passionate defense of the art of the washcloth on the Yarn Harlot’s blawgh last week, I started down that rabbit hole too.


But, shit, it was 99 cents! Er, the yarn, I mean.
And there were big ol’ skeins of Bernat cotton on sale half price-- clearing the summer yarn, you know-- so I’m loosely planning to try and whip up a big stack for stocking-stuffers. First up is one seed-stitch with a garter border, though, which I will probably keep; and I’m considering making a second, smaller one in linen-and-garter because I feel like that would make a magnificent facecloth-- smooth as you like on one side, scrubby on the other with the clustered slipstitchy purl-bumps. I’m gonna have to go down a few needlesizes, though; most things I am seeing suggest 7s or 6s for washcloth knitting, but I feel like this is way too loose for my tastes!

EASY CHEEZY:


I kind of love how this yarn looks in the sun...
My coworker asked me to whip up something for an impending babby in the family, and since I can pretty much knit baby hats in my sleep I figured why not. Decided to add a pair of matching booties, tho without the random lace bits. (They’re calling the little Cheezy since they don’t know the sex yet. So I made a cheezy hat. The holes’re supposed to be the bubbles in the cheese, get it?)

This was fast. So fast that between the time I started writing this post and the time I posted it, I finished hat and booties alike. Bam. Pair of booties in just a smidge over a day, and a work-day at that.

And that’s a quick glance at all that! Whooo. Back to relative monogamy with the QR, for a while, until/unless I cast on the first Christmas s w e a t e r . Whew. Did it get panicky in here all of a sudden?

][ Strangely Therapeutic...

I am not a fan of visiting the proverbial frog-pond.

I'm usually pretty good at following directions and catching mistakes early, and I have no qualms about ripping back a row or two or tinking down a few more if I need to fix a stitch... and more often than not I am willing to live with little mistakes, because a) no one but me notices and b) if I need perfect knitting, there are a billion stores selling machine-knit flawless everything. A little glitch here and there is part of the handmade charm. Usually, when I choose to live with a mistake instead of fixing it, I have good reasons. Maybe my short-row is one stitch too short, and I don’t care. Maybe I can’t figure out where my math went wrong and I like the look anyway. The point is, I think I have a pretty healthy attitude about hiccups.

But full-scale frogging?

I ripped out... maybe 12 pattern repeats of my reality knits scarf the first time I started it, because I realized I hadn’t properly thought out the provisional cast-on and it was going to cause me all sorts of misery and angst. (Ironically, I don’t love the ends on the finished version, either! but I don’t hate them enough to kill nine feet and three-years of complicated colorwork.) It hurt like hell, even though I knew it was for the best-- like going to the dentist or picking out a splinter.

And ‘til this week that traumatic necessity was probably my biggest frogged project. Once you hit that point of no return, man, it’s tough! I’ve got a little niche in my craft closet full of swatches-- not the nice, organized swatch stash (say that six times fast) that people recommend a conscientious knitter keep, so no pictures-- that may or may not also include a few ill-fitting hats and other poor choices. I figure eventually, I’ll come up with some use for them-- and I do! I’ve given away hats to other people who fit into them, and now and then a decorative such-and-such comes in handy.

Late last week, though, when I finished my latest charity baby hat (a twisted rib one of which I’m rather proud) I had the bright idea to cast on a reverse-stockinette faux rolled-brim hat next-- the brim knit in stockinette, a small ribbed band to keep it well-fitted, and the rest purled in the same pattern as a plain hat. I got through the brim, the ribbed band, and figured out a clever fix to let me turn the whole thing inside out and knit to the end rather than purl... and....

I hated it.

There'd be a picture here, but I hated it too much to bother taking one.
I hated everything about it. The way it rolled, how wide the ribbing had to be to pull in at all and how poorly it did the job, the way the colors were striping, the gauge of the stockinette, everything. So I did the logical thing: I... kept knitting and knitting, convinced it would even out in a few more rounds and I’d hate it less.

On the train on Wednesday, though, I took a good long look at it. I can usually do 2 of these hats a week pretty easily-- especially stockinette stitch! But there it was Wednesday, and I think I’d cast on on Saturday, and I was going nowhere. So instead of spending my train ride knitting.....


I've never been happier to see wrinkly yarn.
Well, you know how it goes.

For the first time, tearing something out was a relief. I wouldn’t have to hope, wouldn’t have to struggle to fix it in the end, and best of all, I wouldn’t have to look at that damn yarn for a while. (I mean I do love it, but I’ve found that more than 2 hats in a row of any yarn makes me start to hate it.)

Now I’m back to a plain ribbed pattern, which completely flies in the face of my recent I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING I CAN IMPROVISE ANYTHING I WANNA trend, but sometimes it’s not about being innovative. Sometimes a squishy, soft hat with colors pooling in attractive ways is all you need.


Look at those swirrrrls!!!
Yay!

][ Like a broken top

So maybe I was a little wicked the other week. And last week. And this week. And always, really.

I’m not on Tumblr, but from time to time I do glance at various people’s various tumblrs, and I happened to see a reblog of these really cool sheep. As much as I would like to imagine myself some kind of sheep-savvy fiber goddess, I’m really not (yet), but I like Jacobs enough on principle to know them on sight, evidently. And, you know how it is, one thing led to another, and I bought some roving from their etsy store, and it came last Monday (my sole qualm with the long weekend, I could’ve had that Friday if it were a normal week... not that I am really complaining...) and I love it.


Baaaa
I got 3 oz of each color, and they’re really pretty and wonderfully soft. It’s all I can do not to ruin them by over-fondling.

I kept from starting by making deals with myself that I won’t start spinning it until I do something with the hemp disaster currently on the bobbin, which is halfway because I feel this weirdly dutiful urge to make myself enjoy spinning hemp, and halfway because I’ve got company this week and I really shouldn’t start a big new project when I ought to be cleaning stuff instead. Besides, I actually had a brainstorm about something I might want to knit with hemp yarn-- even my weird, overspun, not quite even hemp yarn-- so if I could work up a bit more before I surrender and start on my Jacob adventure, that would be best.

But. I’m not that good. And she threw in a little sample of stripey roving. And I have spindles, many of which aren’t even currently in use, so.


Oops.
I need to be a little more careful drafting so I don’t get too much striping, I like the marled look so much, but it’s pretty lovely to work with so far.

And on that topic, this is the first time I’ve really played around with this spindle. I bought it at Maryland Sheep and Wool last year because I wanted a second heavy spindle (my first was an Ashford beginner spindle of some sort), and because I really liked the vaguely menacing cabal of sheep on the whorl, who are clearly about to perform some arcane ritual. (It’s a Louet Beginner High Whorl Spindle, for the record. Not all that fancy.) And man do I love it. I knew when I got it that I really wanted that-- a heavy, no-nonsense spindle-- but I’ve done a lot of my admittedly limited spinning on lighter ones, and I forgot how much easier a good chunk of weight makes it. This baby spins forever even if I just give it a little flick-- on the lightest spindle I have, even thigh-rolling doesn’t always make it to the floor without untwisting. I find that getting a fast/long enough spin is difficult for me so having that to babysit me helps quite a bit. If I get too risky and thin it’s gonna be trouble, I’m sure, but I find that easier to fix than insufficient twist problems.

I really do think the fact that I know the basics of both drop-spindles and wheels has helped me improve as a spinner in general; the spindle gives me a better sense of appropriate twist, and the wheel helps my drafting skills. (Though I want to stress again that I’m not all that great at either, but I’m getting better all the time.) Right now what I think I need is to keep practicing, practicing, practicing. Which shouldn’t be a problem because holy crap do I have a lot of fiber.

Anyway, the bulk of the Jacob is getting tucked away for at least a couple more weeks, but I’m ruminating on making a drop spindle bag so I can start spinning on the go a little without worrying about messing up my roving. Guess we’ll see how my time looks, but it’s on the long-term crafty to-do list, for sure. (Then again, what isn’t?)

Right now I’ve got the whole kit and caboodle wrapped in a bandana, and I’ve been doing a couple feet here and there during lunch. It’s also surprisingly popular; several of my coworkers have asked for a demonstration, and of course I’m always pleased to oblige.


Lunchtime spinning adds up, there's even more now!
I wanted to ply it, because I’m fundamentally happier with plied yarns, but I think I might have to keep it as singles just because there’s so little. I don’t even know what I’ll make with it... a wristband? A headband? Hrmn. The current plan is, I think, to finish as singles and check length on the niddy-noddy, then go from there and either ply or set it and start knittin’.

It’s fun, though, and surprisingly portable-- maybe it’s time to dig out that green roving and the Ashford spindle, once this batch is done. The spindles are nearly of a size so the bag I want to make should fit either....