Hello, blawgh. Long time no see.
I got in this weird cycle of not writing, and then starting writing, and then not finishing my entry and never posting it and then it was so old I had a million other things to talk about so I’d start over, and so on. But enough of that, I think I just need to accept that I’m not gonna be able to catch you up anytime soon.
So, bullet points:
- I did end up doing the Ravellenics, sort of. Knit socks for the Knitting Dead Cage Match, without doing anything for the proper Ravellenics bureaucracy. Crazy story. Maybe I will tell it someday. Won a set of stitch markers!
- I knit a whole bunch of stuff
- Went to MDS&W, got very few pictures, managed not to spend too much money
- Bought a lot of yarn online
- Probably gonna buy more yarn online
- Did a swap in TKD which was amahzing!
And unfortunately, for now, I’m not going into detail because moving forward is the name of today’s game.
One of the reasons I’ve been writing here less is that I have been more sociable on the Ravelry forums, which has the added bonus of keeping me more in the loop, so for once I am actually thinking about the Tour de Fleece in advance. I think I’m gonna do it. My goal is solely going to be to spin for at least 15 minutes each day (save the rest days, I guess, as is tradition, but ideally making up for those with extra time on the others.) I don’t have a fiber quantity goal or anything, I just need to make myself do it. Spindle acceptable but I’d like to put most of my mileage on the wheel. Otherwise I don’t have a game plan-- except maybe to move on to actually knitting with what I spun after I do it. Baby steps. Fifteen minutes a day is an easy enough goal that I will kick myself in the face if I don’t accomplish it.
And that’s about it, really. I’ve been knitting lots, lots and lots and lots, but I’m too lazy to dig up pictures right now. Deal with it, you get a boring update today. Next time I’ll try to spice it up.
Hopefully it won’t be six months til the next!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
][ wool, wool, wool . . . or, I covet stuff and babble a lot to keep warm
It’s been cold, people. Bitter cold. Psycho cold. I’ve always been good at winter, and even I am struggling with this one. We had eight or ten inches of snow last week, and I’m getting used to single-digit temperatures in the morning. And we don’t even have it bad.
I have accepted that fog and frost will just be constants for a while.
I’m layering like a pro. I’ve taken to wearing skirts to work, just so I can wear several pairs of fleece pyjama pants under and whip ‘em off once I get to the office without having to awkwardly maneuver out of my grownup work pants in the bathroom to slip the leggings out from under them. I’ve got a big ol’ pile of gloves and scarves and hats to rotate my way through, and I don’t leave the house without ‘em. There was a time when I’d go out sleeveless in the snow wearing my clogs, but that time is long gone. This winter demands respect and I’m paying it.
Traditionally I’ve been bad at knitting in the winter, for whatever reason. I’ve usually been most productive in the spring and fall, when it’s not too hot to keep a pile of cozy fabric in your lap, but not cold enough that you really want the finished item more than you want to work on it.
Taken through a screen because I didn’t want to put eight pairs of pants on to go out.
Right now, though, I do want to knit. Maybe it’s that I’ve been knitting so much more and more consistently for the past year, or maybe it’s that I am better at reading patterns and trying new techniques, but I haven’t hit the same kind of dramatic loss-of-interest, even in between projects. I might stop for a week or a month but I am still interested. However, I find that it’s influencing my habits in a totally different way: I want to knit, I want to always be knitting, but I only want to knit animal fiber. Give me wool. Now. Or else. I’ve got a pointed stick here, people. Several, in fact. Give up the goods.
(See how cold it is? Completely delirious.)
Here’s a small part of my staying-warm strategy.
A drive-by finished object: the Welton fingerless gloves took a bit over a week to complete, lots of which was spent binge-watching The Walking Dead.
Also pictured: the cowlbeast! I love this thing, man.
I’m seriously surprised at how quickly these have gotten fuzzy and lived-in-- I always thought of this as a pretty sleek and tight yarn, and the gauge is pretty firm, they were knit on 3s. I’m a little miffed, but mostly okay with it, and desperately glad to have them. (I wear them under my mittens, to protect the vulnerable space between sleeve and glove.
The other night I knit in front of this roaring fire and drank hot cocoa with marshmallows. Life was good.
I started a thing with stripes and have had to shelve it almost right away, because I don’t have more of the brown yarn (leftovers from the childHood, if you go back a couple entries) and I’m not sure whether I want to a) frog the thing and re-do it with two blue stripes to every brown, and hope that gives me enough; b) frog back the bit where I’m trying the two-to-one, order more yarn, and continue, or c) tear the whole thing up and try this again some other time with yarn I’ve got more of. Add in the fact that I still don’t know whether it’d look good on me, and you’ve got my current attitude: go away for a while.
Instead, I’ve started more socks.
Not actually exciting.
Not everyday socks, but what I call cocktail socks-- big, thick ones you wear around the house when it’s bloody cold out. I don’t really know what I’m doing with them, I just needed to get something on the needles to mess around with and saw some leftover LB fisherman’s wool and said yes. (I know, that’s mostly not fisherman’s wool in the picture. I thought I’d use an acrylic blend for the toes and heel to give it a little more fortitude, so it’ll be black toes and heels. Knitting the heel is going to be a nightmare in anything but the brightest light, unless I find a better way to do it, but oh well.)
I might dye them a more interesting color when done, but we’ll see.
All fun, not so fattening on the stash.
Actually, a lot of my future knitting plans are socks. I got a Phat Fiber yarn box for January, and I’m planning to make a chaotically striped pair with a skein of black and all the sock-weight samples. I also bought myself a skein of one of the featured yarns, and I’ve got a skein set aside to try and knit a pair during the Olympics. I wouldn’t call myself a sock knitter yet, with only one pair done and no real schedule on doing anything fancy, but I’m excited about it!
Planning out the color progression!
Other than that, I’m really craving certain things that haven’t taken shape yet. I want to knit some stuff inspired by The Walking Dead, because it’s totally taken over my mind, but I have no idea what would be the right project to go for.
I also desperately want a wool blanket-- but that might just be because it’s so bloody cold lately. I’m not sure I want to knit one... I definitely don’t want to pay for enough wool to do so! But I want one madly. Ah, if only I had a loom... and a flock of sheep... and no day job.
Til next time! <3
I have accepted that fog and frost will just be constants for a while.
I’m layering like a pro. I’ve taken to wearing skirts to work, just so I can wear several pairs of fleece pyjama pants under and whip ‘em off once I get to the office without having to awkwardly maneuver out of my grownup work pants in the bathroom to slip the leggings out from under them. I’ve got a big ol’ pile of gloves and scarves and hats to rotate my way through, and I don’t leave the house without ‘em. There was a time when I’d go out sleeveless in the snow wearing my clogs, but that time is long gone. This winter demands respect and I’m paying it.
Traditionally I’ve been bad at knitting in the winter, for whatever reason. I’ve usually been most productive in the spring and fall, when it’s not too hot to keep a pile of cozy fabric in your lap, but not cold enough that you really want the finished item more than you want to work on it.
Taken through a screen because I didn’t want to put eight pairs of pants on to go out.
Right now, though, I do want to knit. Maybe it’s that I’ve been knitting so much more and more consistently for the past year, or maybe it’s that I am better at reading patterns and trying new techniques, but I haven’t hit the same kind of dramatic loss-of-interest, even in between projects. I might stop for a week or a month but I am still interested. However, I find that it’s influencing my habits in a totally different way: I want to knit, I want to always be knitting, but I only want to knit animal fiber. Give me wool. Now. Or else. I’ve got a pointed stick here, people. Several, in fact. Give up the goods.
(See how cold it is? Completely delirious.)
Here’s a small part of my staying-warm strategy.
A drive-by finished object: the Welton fingerless gloves took a bit over a week to complete, lots of which was spent binge-watching The Walking Dead.
Also pictured: the cowlbeast! I love this thing, man.
I’m seriously surprised at how quickly these have gotten fuzzy and lived-in-- I always thought of this as a pretty sleek and tight yarn, and the gauge is pretty firm, they were knit on 3s. I’m a little miffed, but mostly okay with it, and desperately glad to have them. (I wear them under my mittens, to protect the vulnerable space between sleeve and glove.
The other night I knit in front of this roaring fire and drank hot cocoa with marshmallows. Life was good.
I started a thing with stripes and have had to shelve it almost right away, because I don’t have more of the brown yarn (leftovers from the childHood, if you go back a couple entries) and I’m not sure whether I want to a) frog the thing and re-do it with two blue stripes to every brown, and hope that gives me enough; b) frog back the bit where I’m trying the two-to-one, order more yarn, and continue, or c) tear the whole thing up and try this again some other time with yarn I’ve got more of. Add in the fact that I still don’t know whether it’d look good on me, and you’ve got my current attitude: go away for a while.
Instead, I’ve started more socks.
Not actually exciting.
Not everyday socks, but what I call cocktail socks-- big, thick ones you wear around the house when it’s bloody cold out. I don’t really know what I’m doing with them, I just needed to get something on the needles to mess around with and saw some leftover LB fisherman’s wool and said yes. (I know, that’s mostly not fisherman’s wool in the picture. I thought I’d use an acrylic blend for the toes and heel to give it a little more fortitude, so it’ll be black toes and heels. Knitting the heel is going to be a nightmare in anything but the brightest light, unless I find a better way to do it, but oh well.)
I might dye them a more interesting color when done, but we’ll see.
All fun, not so fattening on the stash.
Actually, a lot of my future knitting plans are socks. I got a Phat Fiber yarn box for January, and I’m planning to make a chaotically striped pair with a skein of black and all the sock-weight samples. I also bought myself a skein of one of the featured yarns, and I’ve got a skein set aside to try and knit a pair during the Olympics. I wouldn’t call myself a sock knitter yet, with only one pair done and no real schedule on doing anything fancy, but I’m excited about it!
Planning out the color progression!
Other than that, I’m really craving certain things that haven’t taken shape yet. I want to knit some stuff inspired by The Walking Dead, because it’s totally taken over my mind, but I have no idea what would be the right project to go for.
I also desperately want a wool blanket-- but that might just be because it’s so bloody cold lately. I’m not sure I want to knit one... I definitely don’t want to pay for enough wool to do so! But I want one madly. Ah, if only I had a loom... and a flock of sheep... and no day job.
Til next time! <3
Sunday, January 12, 2014
][ gratuitous sock pictures ahead
Behold! Socks!
Wellp, my first pair of socks is my first finished project of 2014! I'm pretty thrilled. A week and a half doesn't seem bad for my first socks, and I'm reasonably sure I could do the next pair quicker, if they're not too much fancier.
Taking pictures of your own feet: surprisingly hard.
I'm not 100% on this toe construction-- I think next time I'll try the magic cast-on and increase up instead of doing a short-row kind of thing-- but for now I will proudly and cozily wear these. Around the house, at least. It might take me a while to work up the courage to risk them out in the real world.
Quarter for size reference, obviously
Above are my leftovers. I could have cut it a bit closer and done another half-round, I think, but this was my first time doing a sewn bindoff and I wanted to make sure I had plenty left over. This is also after taking a few inches to reinforce the edge of the heel where there was a bit of a gap between the tube part and the heel section-- it looks just dandy now, and I can't feel the extra yarn at all.
I'm a little worried about these wearing out-- a lot of reviews on this yarn said it's prone to felting and falling apart, and it does feel a little more loosely spun than I expected a sock yarn to be-- but I'll live with it one way or another. What I can say for sure is that these are super cozy, and really, really warm. Also, the cat loves them.
After finishing them I milled about lost for a little while, but decided to cast on a silly little something...
You know you covet my bees.
These will someday or other be a pair of long fingerless gloves; I'm winging it, but I plan to use what I learned from making my BFF's Link Gauntlets to shape the thumb gusset and fingertips and all that jazz.
They'll have a similar set of stripes up at the wrist, I think, and if I feel really ambitious maybe a ring around each finger, but that's probably more than I have the patience for. I'd like to put a little embroidery on one hand or both hands, but I don't know what.
At any rate, it'll keep me busy for a bit until I make some decisions about what I really want to be knitting now!
I'd start more socks, but I don't have that much sock yarn stashed, and most of it is earmarked for particular stuff that I don't feel up to beginning yet. I'm toying with cracking out some pastel rainbow stuff when the Olympics roll around, because even though I don't care in the least about the whole knitting games ordeal, I do like some of the protest stuff cropping up and also it seems like a good excuse to knit rainbow socks as fast as I can. '
I've also still got that big bulky yarn that wants to be a hat (I just don't know what hat it wants to be) and a kit to knit myself a complicated colorwork sweater, which was a lovely ecksmuss gift. (I sort of did a gauge swatch for that, but haven't measured it yet.)
Anyway, for now my work is cut out for me.
PS: SOCKS!!!!!!!
Couldn't resist. Sorry kittens.
Friday, January 3, 2014
][ I may have miscalculated here…
One funny little side effect of all that ecksmuss knitting was that I had nothing to knit after. Nothing. The only thing left on the needles was my Doom Blanket, and that’s almost more of a t-shirt-cutting project than knitting, really. I wasn’t in the mood and it doesn’t really travel at this point.
I worked up one last gift over the post-ecksmuss weekend (it’s a bit naughty so I won’t link), but then I had nothing. No knitting! That is so not me.
I toyed with a few ideas but couldn’t decide, so I took a knitting break of a couple of days. When the New Year dawned, though, I woke up with a sense of purpose, wound a skein, and decided to start 2014 with my first proper pair of socks.
Universal toe-up pattern and KnitPicks Imagination in Wicked Witch.
I got down to the narrowest bit of the short-rows on Wednesday, and between my lunch break and commute, back to the widest bit Thursday, and picked up all the stitches. Now I’m at the easy bit, for now-- knitting round and round a while until it becomes time to face the heel.
But I promised a mistake, right? That’s what you’re here for.
While I was still ruminating on the right post-Ecksmuss project, I seriously flirted with the idea of knitting a big slouchy hat of the bulky, delightful wool I’d bought at Flying Fingers’ Black Friday sale. See, what you may not know about me (or perhaps you do) is that I have many fabulous hats. Many deeply fabulous hats, but very few warm winter hats. A big hat knit with big yarn on big needles would go a lot faster than a tiny fiddly pair of socks, so I’d probably have a hat where now I only have toes. And a big woolly hat of my own devising would be a seriously useful thing if it got cold.
Pretty, but not great to walk around in.
It got cold.
Maybe I should knit myself some gloves…
I worked up one last gift over the post-ecksmuss weekend (it’s a bit naughty so I won’t link), but then I had nothing. No knitting! That is so not me.
I toyed with a few ideas but couldn’t decide, so I took a knitting break of a couple of days. When the New Year dawned, though, I woke up with a sense of purpose, wound a skein, and decided to start 2014 with my first proper pair of socks.
Universal toe-up pattern and KnitPicks Imagination in Wicked Witch.
I got down to the narrowest bit of the short-rows on Wednesday, and between my lunch break and commute, back to the widest bit Thursday, and picked up all the stitches. Now I’m at the easy bit, for now-- knitting round and round a while until it becomes time to face the heel.
But I promised a mistake, right? That’s what you’re here for.
While I was still ruminating on the right post-Ecksmuss project, I seriously flirted with the idea of knitting a big slouchy hat of the bulky, delightful wool I’d bought at Flying Fingers’ Black Friday sale. See, what you may not know about me (or perhaps you do) is that I have many fabulous hats. Many deeply fabulous hats, but very few warm winter hats. A big hat knit with big yarn on big needles would go a lot faster than a tiny fiddly pair of socks, so I’d probably have a hat where now I only have toes. And a big woolly hat of my own devising would be a seriously useful thing if it got cold.
Pretty, but not great to walk around in.
It got cold.
Maybe I should knit myself some gloves…
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
][ in with the new
This is partly a re-post from a Ravelry thread; I wanted to do a 2013 wrap-up here and figured I may as well just use that as a rough draft, add in a few things I forgot, and increase the general level of tangential rambling.
2013 was a good knitting year for me. I think it’s safe to say I knit more this year than the rest of my life put together. I've knit more consistently, more adventurously overall, and with more variety than ever-- it’s quantity and quality and variety all at once.
I did a ton of baby knitting. I made twenty-one small hats for babies at the NICU in the first half of the year, after my twin cousins were born 2 months early. I've also knit 2 hats apiece for them, including a coordinated pair plus a pair of tube socks for each, and a matching hat for dad. I knit a hat and booties for a coworker’s niece, too.
I also knit my first sweaters-- tiny babby sweaters, okay, but I think they count. They were a big hit-- a little too big for the kidlets now, but the parents love them and that gave me all the warm fuzzy feelings ever. Pretty much the only standard baby thing I didn’t knit in ‘13 was a blanket, but that’s okay-- honestly, prior to 2013 I had knit one baby blanket and that was the extent of my baby knitting prowess. (I wish I had pictures, it was a nice one. But I digress.)
My most complex colorwork to date is a 2013 project-- my actually-scannable QR code, which is pretty darn cool if you ask me. It was also my first steek (and as a steek, a great learning experience, but perhaps not the wisest of choices.) I learned a lot abot cotton yarn and why it is not the best idea for certain projects.
I finished what is probably my oldest WIP this year. I knit a pattern in a language I don't speak for my grandfather. I made my first pair of fingerless gloves. I designed and knit three cowls. (Well, I knit four, but the fourth hasn't been gifted yet ;3) I spun on my wheel.
I probably knit thirty tiny pigs-- I've actually lost count of them. (A couple I kept, a couple I’ve already given away; the lion’s share of them have been tucked, flat, into my much-belated Christmas cards. Don’t tell, it’s a surprise.) I found something to do with my size 36 circulars. I made a hat I liked enough to get over my fear of putting pictures of myself on project pages. I knit more Christmas gifts than I ever imagined. (Some still aren't up there.) I made a lot of people I really love really happy.
I learned the basics of crocheting at Maker Faire. I got over my terror of tiny needles (and almost forgot how to use bigger ones.) I learned at least three new cast-ons and one bind-off. I finally managed a provisional CO that didn't utterly fall apart and make me start over. I allowed myself to frog a project I wasn't loving. I had a prima ballerina admire the scarf I made myself.
I organized my stash. I let myself buy way too much yarn because my stash was so organized. I bonded over knitting with my cousin. I talked to a dozen strangers on the subway who wanted to know what I was doing. I can't count the new stitch patterns. I bought roving from ridiculously cute sheep. I missed Rhinebeck, but I learned the art of a perfectly-executed mattress stitch. I managed to snag a Phat Fiber box. Iknit with my grandmother, who hasn't picked up knitting needles in the last 20 or 30 years, but who started cranking out NICU hats with the rest of us when she found out how much she likes bamboo needles.
I blogged more consistently, I *think*, than ever, though that's not saying much. I knit at the movies (simple ribbing at Thor 2 but 2-color drop-stitch colorwork during The Desolation of Smaug!) I published my first (silly) pattern and started writing up two more. I started actually talking to people (a little!) on Ravelry. I told my roommate more about fiber content and knitting technique than she ever wanted to know. (Sorry about that.)
I’m sure I’m forgetting things, but that’s okay. It’s been a busy one.
I am not big on making resolutions-- I love them in theory but I find they make me more likely to fail in the long term, because once you slip up once or twice it’s over. I had a sort of to-do list somewhere in the middle of this year that wholly got away from me, but I don’t really feel like it’s a failure, I just think I went in different directions. (See: the long list of knitting accomplishments above. Who really cares if I didn’t knit socks?)
But I do have some thoughts.
I’d like to blog more regularly in 2014, even though literally no one reads it. I like writing and it’s good for me to critically think about my knitting, what I’ve done and where I’m going. One of my weak points as a knitter has always been a certain reluctance to make big skill-jumps; I usually need to really want a particular thing to get there. I think if I end up writing about eighteen different scarves in a row, though, I’m likelier to notice the rut I’m in and be braver about getting out of it.
I would love to start the super-intimidating-but-awesome sweater kit my cousin gave me for Christmas; it’s going to be a trip, with cuffed sleeves and mesurement adjustments and fair isle and steeking and lord even knows what else. I’ve done a bunch of colorwork now-- some of it with proper floats, even!-- and I like knitting the kind of wool in the kit, so I think I’m up to it. I hope. But I’d like to read through the pattern a few more times before I start swatching, even.
I would love to do some more knitting from stash-- and I’ve got plenty of it-- even though the siren song of New Yarn is pretty hard to resist. I also, definitely definitely want to do more spinning! I love it, and I love knitting with handspun. (Okay, so I haven’t knit with my handspun, but the Cowlbeast was a genuine pleasure and I really want more groovy adventures like it.)
I’m hoping to go to Maryland S&W and/or/and Rhinebeck in ‘14, though we’ll have to see how that really pans out in terms of time, money, &c, but I love fiber parties. I’ll definitely go to the Long Island show again, if I can-- it was an awful lot of fun last year. Same for Maker Faire… potentially I might agree to teach knitting there, but I’m not 100% decided on that.
I want more non-scarfy wardrobe pieces to wear-- a sweater would be nice, but I’m thinking of all the shawl patterns I have set aside just waiting for the right yarn or the right mood or the swift I don’t have to wind that gigantic skein of laceweight into a ball.
And?
Socks.
I’m casting them on as we speak, baby. Let’s wreck this new year.
2013 was a good knitting year for me. I think it’s safe to say I knit more this year than the rest of my life put together. I've knit more consistently, more adventurously overall, and with more variety than ever-- it’s quantity and quality and variety all at once.
I did a ton of baby knitting. I made twenty-one small hats for babies at the NICU in the first half of the year, after my twin cousins were born 2 months early. I've also knit 2 hats apiece for them, including a coordinated pair plus a pair of tube socks for each, and a matching hat for dad. I knit a hat and booties for a coworker’s niece, too.
I also knit my first sweaters-- tiny babby sweaters, okay, but I think they count. They were a big hit-- a little too big for the kidlets now, but the parents love them and that gave me all the warm fuzzy feelings ever. Pretty much the only standard baby thing I didn’t knit in ‘13 was a blanket, but that’s okay-- honestly, prior to 2013 I had knit one baby blanket and that was the extent of my baby knitting prowess. (I wish I had pictures, it was a nice one. But I digress.)
My most complex colorwork to date is a 2013 project-- my actually-scannable QR code, which is pretty darn cool if you ask me. It was also my first steek (and as a steek, a great learning experience, but perhaps not the wisest of choices.) I learned a lot abot cotton yarn and why it is not the best idea for certain projects.
I finished what is probably my oldest WIP this year. I knit a pattern in a language I don't speak for my grandfather. I made my first pair of fingerless gloves. I designed and knit three cowls. (Well, I knit four, but the fourth hasn't been gifted yet ;3) I spun on my wheel.
I probably knit thirty tiny pigs-- I've actually lost count of them. (A couple I kept, a couple I’ve already given away; the lion’s share of them have been tucked, flat, into my much-belated Christmas cards. Don’t tell, it’s a surprise.) I found something to do with my size 36 circulars. I made a hat I liked enough to get over my fear of putting pictures of myself on project pages. I knit more Christmas gifts than I ever imagined. (Some still aren't up there.) I made a lot of people I really love really happy.
I learned the basics of crocheting at Maker Faire. I got over my terror of tiny needles (and almost forgot how to use bigger ones.) I learned at least three new cast-ons and one bind-off. I finally managed a provisional CO that didn't utterly fall apart and make me start over. I allowed myself to frog a project I wasn't loving. I had a prima ballerina admire the scarf I made myself.
I organized my stash. I let myself buy way too much yarn because my stash was so organized. I bonded over knitting with my cousin. I talked to a dozen strangers on the subway who wanted to know what I was doing. I can't count the new stitch patterns. I bought roving from ridiculously cute sheep. I missed Rhinebeck, but I learned the art of a perfectly-executed mattress stitch. I managed to snag a Phat Fiber box. Iknit with my grandmother, who hasn't picked up knitting needles in the last 20 or 30 years, but who started cranking out NICU hats with the rest of us when she found out how much she likes bamboo needles.
I blogged more consistently, I *think*, than ever, though that's not saying much. I knit at the movies (simple ribbing at Thor 2 but 2-color drop-stitch colorwork during The Desolation of Smaug!) I published my first (silly) pattern and started writing up two more. I started actually talking to people (a little!) on Ravelry. I told my roommate more about fiber content and knitting technique than she ever wanted to know. (Sorry about that.)
I’m sure I’m forgetting things, but that’s okay. It’s been a busy one.
I am not big on making resolutions-- I love them in theory but I find they make me more likely to fail in the long term, because once you slip up once or twice it’s over. I had a sort of to-do list somewhere in the middle of this year that wholly got away from me, but I don’t really feel like it’s a failure, I just think I went in different directions. (See: the long list of knitting accomplishments above. Who really cares if I didn’t knit socks?)
But I do have some thoughts.
I’d like to blog more regularly in 2014, even though literally no one reads it. I like writing and it’s good for me to critically think about my knitting, what I’ve done and where I’m going. One of my weak points as a knitter has always been a certain reluctance to make big skill-jumps; I usually need to really want a particular thing to get there. I think if I end up writing about eighteen different scarves in a row, though, I’m likelier to notice the rut I’m in and be braver about getting out of it.
I would love to start the super-intimidating-but-awesome sweater kit my cousin gave me for Christmas; it’s going to be a trip, with cuffed sleeves and mesurement adjustments and fair isle and steeking and lord even knows what else. I’ve done a bunch of colorwork now-- some of it with proper floats, even!-- and I like knitting the kind of wool in the kit, so I think I’m up to it. I hope. But I’d like to read through the pattern a few more times before I start swatching, even.
I would love to do some more knitting from stash-- and I’ve got plenty of it-- even though the siren song of New Yarn is pretty hard to resist. I also, definitely definitely want to do more spinning! I love it, and I love knitting with handspun. (Okay, so I haven’t knit with my handspun, but the Cowlbeast was a genuine pleasure and I really want more groovy adventures like it.)
I’m hoping to go to Maryland S&W and/or/and Rhinebeck in ‘14, though we’ll have to see how that really pans out in terms of time, money, &c, but I love fiber parties. I’ll definitely go to the Long Island show again, if I can-- it was an awful lot of fun last year. Same for Maker Faire… potentially I might agree to teach knitting there, but I’m not 100% decided on that.
I want more non-scarfy wardrobe pieces to wear-- a sweater would be nice, but I’m thinking of all the shawl patterns I have set aside just waiting for the right yarn or the right mood or the swift I don’t have to wind that gigantic skein of laceweight into a ball.
And?
Socks.
I’m casting them on as we speak, baby. Let’s wreck this new year.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
][ ho, ho, ho boy.
When people ask me about my yarn stash, I like to use the word ‘dragonish.’ I hoard certain things with all the avarice of a huge, fire-breathing lizard. (This metaphor possibly brought to you by The Desolation of Smaug. We saw it. I knit through it. Two-color drop stitch pattern in the dark. I’m pretty awesome, yo.) There aren’t many things I collect this way: yarn is one; books are another; and, apparently, vacation.
Thanks to holiday closures and the fact that I haven’t taken half my time off yet this year, Friday was the first day of my break, and I don’t go back to work ‘til January 2nd.
I sat myself down Friday morning with a fresh pot of coffee, bad holiday films on Netflix (SIDE NOTE: Holiday In Handcuffs is like the best/worst film EVER, go watch it), and my to-do pile.
This was my to-do pile:
The red thing is nearly done; I may or may not add a couple more rows, but it’s at the point where it’s on Not Worrying About It hold; the black bag contains my bff’s secret gift, which of course I can’t talk about; the rainbow-and-black yarn doesn’t actually need to be done until after New Year’s; the two sweaters are knit and seamed, but one needs blocking and both need buttons and only one has buttons picked out, even; the clear bag is a side project that isn’t actually a priority; and the kicker, the green yarn is… well, I don’t even have a pattern, just a rough idea in my head. Ha ha hah. But I’ll manage something.
All things considered I wouldn’t be doing badly if I hadn’t decided to add two things last week or so… so I can’t complain.
Some quick updates on other things:
☆ The Cowlbeast is long since finished; if I recall I bound off Halloween night, and was wearing it shortly after. I love it. I wear it damn near all the time. I cannot actually stop raving about the thing. Go look at all the cute photos on my project page, I’ll wait.
Possibly will write up the pattern for it-- I’ve even got suggestions for commercial yarns it looks nice in… more on that some other timeafter Christmas. Hint hint. Not that I’m up to anything.
☆ I do also still want to post a pattern for 6H, but I need to make another for some step-out photos and I’m lazy as heck. But, someday.
☆ I knit like thirty tiny pigs. They are the potato chips of knitting for me. They are my new favorite use of tiny scraps. They’re getting stuffed in Ecksmuss cards when I belatedly send them out for everyone to fill up and keep and love.
☆ I’ve already given away three knit gifts-- two coffee-cup cozies and a set of cat toys-- and they were totally loved by their recipients. One of whom gave me a gift of a couple small things, including some really lovely stitch-markers and a needle-gauge card. I’m charmed because it means this coworker of mine cared enough to notice my hobby, go to a shop, and ask someone for advice on what to get a knitter. That’s just a bit touching to me. Happy Ecksmuss and all that.
ANYWAY, I gotta jet because this green thing (with picot edging, because why wouldn’t I do a complicated cast-on on a large last minute Christmas gift?) won’t knit itself, and I have a whole new pot of coffee awaiting.
Thanks to holiday closures and the fact that I haven’t taken half my time off yet this year, Friday was the first day of my break, and I don’t go back to work ‘til January 2nd.
I sat myself down Friday morning with a fresh pot of coffee, bad holiday films on Netflix (SIDE NOTE: Holiday In Handcuffs is like the best/worst film EVER, go watch it), and my to-do pile.
This was my to-do pile:
The red thing is nearly done; I may or may not add a couple more rows, but it’s at the point where it’s on Not Worrying About It hold; the black bag contains my bff’s secret gift, which of course I can’t talk about; the rainbow-and-black yarn doesn’t actually need to be done until after New Year’s; the two sweaters are knit and seamed, but one needs blocking and both need buttons and only one has buttons picked out, even; the clear bag is a side project that isn’t actually a priority; and the kicker, the green yarn is… well, I don’t even have a pattern, just a rough idea in my head. Ha ha hah. But I’ll manage something.
All things considered I wouldn’t be doing badly if I hadn’t decided to add two things last week or so… so I can’t complain.
Some quick updates on other things:
☆ The Cowlbeast is long since finished; if I recall I bound off Halloween night, and was wearing it shortly after. I love it. I wear it damn near all the time. I cannot actually stop raving about the thing. Go look at all the cute photos on my project page, I’ll wait.
Possibly will write up the pattern for it-- I’ve even got suggestions for commercial yarns it looks nice in… more on that some other time
☆ I do also still want to post a pattern for 6H, but I need to make another for some step-out photos and I’m lazy as heck. But, someday.
☆ I knit like thirty tiny pigs. They are the potato chips of knitting for me. They are my new favorite use of tiny scraps. They’re getting stuffed in Ecksmuss cards when I belatedly send them out for everyone to fill up and keep and love.
☆ I’ve already given away three knit gifts-- two coffee-cup cozies and a set of cat toys-- and they were totally loved by their recipients. One of whom gave me a gift of a couple small things, including some really lovely stitch-markers and a needle-gauge card. I’m charmed because it means this coworker of mine cared enough to notice my hobby, go to a shop, and ask someone for advice on what to get a knitter. That’s just a bit touching to me. Happy Ecksmuss and all that.
ANYWAY, I gotta jet because this green thing (with picot edging, because why wouldn’t I do a complicated cast-on on a large last minute Christmas gift?) won’t knit itself, and I have a whole new pot of coffee awaiting.
Monday, October 28, 2013
][ producing... slowly... ish
My name is Hannah, and I am not a process knitter.
Sometimes I am. When I get an idea of a technique and want to try it, I'm a process knitter. My hideous washcloth? Really fun for the first dozen rows when I was learning how to make the gathers, really boring now that I'm on the third repeat. My cable swatch? Interesting when stitches crossed, mind-numbing making the bed of purls around it.
Bubble wrap? Actually pretty interesting to knit-- like my long-suffering and also just plain long scarf, the repeat's short enough that I have to pay some attention but not tricksy enough to drive me crazy. No chart needed. Good travel knitting or TV knitting or whatever.
But when it comes down to it? It's all about the product.
And this still isn't quite a product.
I totally guessed wrong about my quantities. The dark yarn, skeined, looked like a heck of a lot more-- but it turns out the light yarn was just balled very tightly, and there's a ton left. As you can see.
For the finishing edge (the "top" edge, I think), my current plan is to switch to smaller needles and knit stockinette rows a while to create a nice, rolled edge long enough not to eat the first bubble repeat.
But that bottom edge... man, I don't know what I should do there.
The stockinette curls badly enough to really interfere with the edge of the design, so I'd like to do something to weight or stabilize or decorate the edge, to even it out a little. Originally I was thinking applied i-cord, but I knit a few inches and I hate the way it'd look, so that's out.
I think my options are:
I have no idea what I'm going to end up doing, but I do know one thing:
I really, really want to be wearing this, not knitting it anymore.
Sometimes I am. When I get an idea of a technique and want to try it, I'm a process knitter. My hideous washcloth? Really fun for the first dozen rows when I was learning how to make the gathers, really boring now that I'm on the third repeat. My cable swatch? Interesting when stitches crossed, mind-numbing making the bed of purls around it.
Bubble wrap? Actually pretty interesting to knit-- like my long-suffering and also just plain long scarf, the repeat's short enough that I have to pay some attention but not tricksy enough to drive me crazy. No chart needed. Good travel knitting or TV knitting or whatever.
But when it comes down to it? It's all about the product.
And this still isn't quite a product.
I totally guessed wrong about my quantities. The dark yarn, skeined, looked like a heck of a lot more-- but it turns out the light yarn was just balled very tightly, and there's a ton left. As you can see.
For the finishing edge (the "top" edge, I think), my current plan is to switch to smaller needles and knit stockinette rows a while to create a nice, rolled edge long enough not to eat the first bubble repeat.
But that bottom edge... man, I don't know what I should do there.
The stockinette curls badly enough to really interfere with the edge of the design, so I'd like to do something to weight or stabilize or decorate the edge, to even it out a little. Originally I was thinking applied i-cord, but I knit a few inches and I hate the way it'd look, so that's out.
I think my options are:
1. Stitch the rolling edge to itself right up at the end, which will stabilize it a little and hopefully keep it from rolling more
2. Try a line of crochet along the edge to stiffen it a little and hopefully tame the rolling
3. Pick up stitches along the whole way and knit more to give the roll some more room to go without eating the pattern
4. Pick up stitches and knit them in reverse stockinette, and hope the roll going the other way (on the inside) balances out the outside. May require stitching down of the inner flap thereby created.
5. Pick up stitches and use one of the books of edging to make something actually nice happen there.
I have no idea what I'm going to end up doing, but I do know one thing:
I really, really want to be wearing this, not knitting it anymore.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
][ a wildly selfish interlude
It's gotten cold, which has made me want to be knitting twenty-four-seven, but when I actually get my hands on the needles it's a different story. Mostly I've just been soldiering away on Yet Another Washcloth, a wholly ideal project for riding the subway but not a very exciting one. (And it doesn't help that the Candy Dishcloth pattern I'm using, the freebie from the wrong side of the yarn label, is really not to my tastes. It's an interesting enough technique that I don't mind it, but it's not a thrill.)
Other than that the only things on the needles are R's Sekrit Holiday Knitting, which I can't work on (obviously) if she's around, and the Doom Blanket, which is too bloody big to carry at this point, though it's fantastic knitting for laying in bed or watching TV-- since I can throw the bulk of it over my legs to keep warm :3
I decided to stir up a little knitting mojo by casting on something new-- something for me, unlike the Sekrit Project and the bajillion washcloths, which are destined for gifting to someone sometime.
I decided to play around.
So I did.
I grabbed this mysterious handspun given me as a gift a while ago, looked at some cowl patterns, and decided to whip up my best approximation of a Bubble Wrap cowl in a completely wrong yarn. What I've got are two skeins of indeterminate size, in very similar colors, save that one is plied with itself and the other is plied with a much darker strand. Since the ball of lighter yarn looked to be smaller than the skein of dark, I'm using that for the "backing" and the dark for the "bubbles."
I'm loving the results-- the similarity of the colors of these two skeins means that the pattern is not as bright and noticeable as it would be if I were actually knitting... you know, the thing I was inspired by... but it gives the fabric an interesting sort of self-patterning illusion, since the "bubbles" are overall darker than the background, and they are indeed textured, though due to the thick-and-thin quality of the yarn it's a bit less pronounced than I'd hoped. Still, it's working up very prettily.
This is where I was at about two minutes before starting this post, and I cast on and knit lazily yesterday-- so it's pretty quick to boot!
It's much more interesting than striping, uses less yardage than proper colorwork (even accounting for the dropped stitches that make the texture happen), and still shows both colorways in a way that pleases me.
If I were to do this over I'd use smaller needles and maybe shrink it to 80 or 60 stitches instead of the 100 I'm doing. My only worry now is how the yarn's going to work out-- I really have no idea how much I have, so it's anyone's guess. I'll deal with it when I run out of one or both, and maybe use the leftovers to work something on the edging. Right now, it's got a few stitches of stockinette which I intended to let curl, but I wish I'd done more-- I didn't because I didn't want to waste yarn, though. Something will present itself, I'm sure. I'm not worried!
Anyway, if all goes well I expect I'll have a cowl by the end of the week at latest. Maybe sooner-- depends how much TV we consume, I think.
A few more details on my project page, as well as some other photos because I love progress photos. It's a sickness. Deal with it.
<3
Other than that the only things on the needles are R's Sekrit Holiday Knitting, which I can't work on (obviously) if she's around, and the Doom Blanket, which is too bloody big to carry at this point, though it's fantastic knitting for laying in bed or watching TV-- since I can throw the bulk of it over my legs to keep warm :3
I decided to stir up a little knitting mojo by casting on something new-- something for me, unlike the Sekrit Project and the bajillion washcloths, which are destined for gifting to someone sometime.
I decided to play around.
So I did.
I grabbed this mysterious handspun given me as a gift a while ago, looked at some cowl patterns, and decided to whip up my best approximation of a Bubble Wrap cowl in a completely wrong yarn. What I've got are two skeins of indeterminate size, in very similar colors, save that one is plied with itself and the other is plied with a much darker strand. Since the ball of lighter yarn looked to be smaller than the skein of dark, I'm using that for the "backing" and the dark for the "bubbles."
I'm loving the results-- the similarity of the colors of these two skeins means that the pattern is not as bright and noticeable as it would be if I were actually knitting... you know, the thing I was inspired by... but it gives the fabric an interesting sort of self-patterning illusion, since the "bubbles" are overall darker than the background, and they are indeed textured, though due to the thick-and-thin quality of the yarn it's a bit less pronounced than I'd hoped. Still, it's working up very prettily.
This is where I was at about two minutes before starting this post, and I cast on and knit lazily yesterday-- so it's pretty quick to boot!
It's much more interesting than striping, uses less yardage than proper colorwork (even accounting for the dropped stitches that make the texture happen), and still shows both colorways in a way that pleases me.
If I were to do this over I'd use smaller needles and maybe shrink it to 80 or 60 stitches instead of the 100 I'm doing. My only worry now is how the yarn's going to work out-- I really have no idea how much I have, so it's anyone's guess. I'll deal with it when I run out of one or both, and maybe use the leftovers to work something on the edging. Right now, it's got a few stitches of stockinette which I intended to let curl, but I wish I'd done more-- I didn't because I didn't want to waste yarn, though. Something will present itself, I'm sure. I'm not worried!
Anyway, if all goes well I expect I'll have a cowl by the end of the week at latest. Maybe sooner-- depends how much TV we consume, I think.
A few more details on my project page, as well as some other photos because I love progress photos. It's a sickness. Deal with it.
<3
Sunday, October 20, 2013
][ still here.
And not in Rhinebeck.
The best laid plans of mice and knitters are no match for the cost of a dead starter in your best friend's car. That's how the old saying goes, right?
Yeah, so. I was pretty bummed.
I tried really hard not to be pretty bummed, but I spent most of yesterday in that stage of self-indulgent misery usually practiced by thirteen-year-olds with an inadvisable collection of eyeliners and fishnet gloves. It was pretty sad-- I mean, I was pretty sad, but the fact that I was as sad as I was was the pathetic kind of sad. Eventually I made myself push through it (mainly) by finishing another washcloth (I have so much kitchen cotton. Seriously. Even discounting the ridiculous amount used for my QR code banner/blanket/whatever you want to call that thing, I will be in washcloths forever, and since it's all end-of-summer sale stuff I think I spent less than $25 on the lot of it-- 2 big things of Bernat Handicrafter, a bloody cone of Peaches & Creme and a ball or two of Sugar'n Cream) and starting another other washcloth and doing a few rows on That Secret Thing for R for Ecksmuss and whatever else.
I also cleaned the kitchen, which I often do when I am sad. I think I have this crazy belief that tangible effects and products of my time will make up for how unpleasant it is.
Anyway, then I took a deep breath and steeled myself to do something I've really been putting off:
I seamed childHood. Yup.
Can we talk about mattress stitch?
Click to enlarge because this yarn is so pretty you just should. Do it.
Wow that is magical. Every time I've put off part of this project because I found it daunting it really... hasn't been so bad at all. And now, save the buttons, it's done done done and very nearly ready for the holidays. I just hope little A. doesn't outgrow it before he gets it.
Wool of the Andes worsted, Opal Heather and Pumice Heather, if anyone's interested.
I probably ought to block it too, though it still looks nice from the in-pieces blocking, save the hood (which didn't exist then), so I might be able to get away with not bothering... mainly my concern is I don't know that I have anywhere to pin it up. Possibly I'll go for steaming it instead. First, though, buttons, but I'm in no real rush with those.
B's sweater will get started soon, soon. I'd sort of hoped to finish both by end of October and then give NaKniSweMo a shot with something for me, but it ain't looking likely from where I'm standing now.
Still, that's a lot of progress for a day, and a heck of a lot cheaper than Rhinebeck would have been.
Next year, though. Next Year.
The best laid plans of mice and knitters are no match for the cost of a dead starter in your best friend's car. That's how the old saying goes, right?
Yeah, so. I was pretty bummed.
I tried really hard not to be pretty bummed, but I spent most of yesterday in that stage of self-indulgent misery usually practiced by thirteen-year-olds with an inadvisable collection of eyeliners and fishnet gloves. It was pretty sad-- I mean, I was pretty sad, but the fact that I was as sad as I was was the pathetic kind of sad. Eventually I made myself push through it (mainly) by finishing another washcloth (I have so much kitchen cotton. Seriously. Even discounting the ridiculous amount used for my QR code banner/blanket/whatever you want to call that thing, I will be in washcloths forever, and since it's all end-of-summer sale stuff I think I spent less than $25 on the lot of it-- 2 big things of Bernat Handicrafter, a bloody cone of Peaches & Creme and a ball or two of Sugar'n Cream) and starting another other washcloth and doing a few rows on That Secret Thing for R for Ecksmuss and whatever else.
I also cleaned the kitchen, which I often do when I am sad. I think I have this crazy belief that tangible effects and products of my time will make up for how unpleasant it is.
Anyway, then I took a deep breath and steeled myself to do something I've really been putting off:
I seamed childHood. Yup.
Can we talk about mattress stitch?
Click to enlarge because this yarn is so pretty you just should. Do it.
Wow that is magical. Every time I've put off part of this project because I found it daunting it really... hasn't been so bad at all. And now, save the buttons, it's done done done and very nearly ready for the holidays. I just hope little A. doesn't outgrow it before he gets it.
Wool of the Andes worsted, Opal Heather and Pumice Heather, if anyone's interested.
I probably ought to block it too, though it still looks nice from the in-pieces blocking, save the hood (which didn't exist then), so I might be able to get away with not bothering... mainly my concern is I don't know that I have anywhere to pin it up. Possibly I'll go for steaming it instead. First, though, buttons, but I'm in no real rush with those.
B's sweater will get started soon, soon. I'd sort of hoped to finish both by end of October and then give NaKniSweMo a shot with something for me, but it ain't looking likely from where I'm standing now.
Still, that's a lot of progress for a day, and a heck of a lot cheaper than Rhinebeck would have been.
Next year, though. Next Year.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
][ the boring kind of update
I haven't done too much knitting this week. Sort of. Actually I've done about five inches of [REDACTED] this week. But obviously I can't really talk about that too much. I can point you towards the project page but it's equally vague and useless. I don't actually think she'd see it, but better safe than sorry.
Other than that? Nothing, really. Having knocked out the rest of 6H I havent even got an alternate on-the-go project. Haven't started Brother B's sweater yet. Nor have i seamed Brother A's. I'm essentially attempting to be monogamous to this secret project which is fighting me pretty viciously.
And it's looking like no Rhinebeck, thanks to car troubles and the like. I am pretty bummed, but maybe it's for the best? I shouldn't spend more money with a stash like mine... No matter how much I want to. Sssigh. I means, knitting from stash isn't a problem, there's a lot of yarn and even roving with a specific or semi-formed project in mind (and, okay, a lot that is just random because I have a magpie hoarder shiny reflex) but there's a handful of stuff I don't have and really want... Plus the thrill of a road trip! A fair! Getting to be around people who care about all this junk!
Ehhh, I just shouldn't dwell.
Boring boring.
Hopefully by next week I'll have accomplished something, even if it's only a couple more inches of [REDACTED] or another few rows on the Doom Blanket.
Other than that? Nothing, really. Having knocked out the rest of 6H I havent even got an alternate on-the-go project. Haven't started Brother B's sweater yet. Nor have i seamed Brother A's. I'm essentially attempting to be monogamous to this secret project which is fighting me pretty viciously.
And it's looking like no Rhinebeck, thanks to car troubles and the like. I am pretty bummed, but maybe it's for the best? I shouldn't spend more money with a stash like mine... No matter how much I want to. Sssigh. I means, knitting from stash isn't a problem, there's a lot of yarn and even roving with a specific or semi-formed project in mind (and, okay, a lot that is just random because I have a magpie hoarder shiny reflex) but there's a handful of stuff I don't have and really want... Plus the thrill of a road trip! A fair! Getting to be around people who care about all this junk!
Ehhh, I just shouldn't dwell.
Boring boring.
Hopefully by next week I'll have accomplished something, even if it's only a couple more inches of [REDACTED] or another few rows on the Doom Blanket.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
][ imagine something witty here
An update without much substance, I'm afraid. Some quick notes:
But to make this not totally tl;dr and boring, have some pictures.
Look! I followed through on something!
As previously threatened, I knit a bit with that awesomely loud and chaotic yarn to see how the color runs looked comparatively. I'm much, much happier with the knit fabric.
Detail of the knit bits.
I tried a bit of garter on 11s (the first thing I grabbed in my needle case, and way too big,) then switched to 4s to roll off a little stockinette, a little ribbing, some linen stitch for kicks. The color runs are still very brief, but since knitting shows the transitions a little more clearly I think it comes across better that way-- less color vomit, more melted box of crayons I think. Definitely planning to make little tiny hats and/or booties with this stuff, the next time the baby knitting bug bites. Which will hopefully not happen til a bigger dent is made in the ecksmuss knitting.
In other other news, 2 weeks til Rhinebeck. We're planning to go. I'm half excited and half scared, and a little bummed I don't have anything grandiose to wear.
Ah, well. Better get back to the needles.
☆ 6H is off the needles at last, after much procrastinating. Pattern may or may not be forthcoming depending on my willingness to knit another for step-out photos.
☆ ChildHood is knit up, but needs to be sewn together. I am dreading it.
☆ Started a new project, but as it's for my bestest friend and she could conceivably see this blog (though she won't), mum's the word &c.
☆ The Blanket of Doom plods along faithfully. I am actually short on shreddable black shirts, oops. I'm going to try soliciting donations from my family first.
But to make this not totally tl;dr and boring, have some pictures.
Look! I followed through on something!
As previously threatened, I knit a bit with that awesomely loud and chaotic yarn to see how the color runs looked comparatively. I'm much, much happier with the knit fabric.
Detail of the knit bits.
I tried a bit of garter on 11s (the first thing I grabbed in my needle case, and way too big,) then switched to 4s to roll off a little stockinette, a little ribbing, some linen stitch for kicks. The color runs are still very brief, but since knitting shows the transitions a little more clearly I think it comes across better that way-- less color vomit, more melted box of crayons I think. Definitely planning to make little tiny hats and/or booties with this stuff, the next time the baby knitting bug bites. Which will hopefully not happen til a bigger dent is made in the ecksmuss knitting.
In other other news, 2 weeks til Rhinebeck. We're planning to go. I'm half excited and half scared, and a little bummed I don't have anything grandiose to wear.
Ah, well. Better get back to the needles.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
][ random notes and nonsense…
I took some pictures to commemorate this event:
My fondness for rainbow chaos strikes again!
This past weekend at Maker Faire, I learned to crochet! I created a fairly ugly irregular vaguely square-shaped swatch, out of some nice yarn that frankly looked better in the ball than it does like this.
Featuring: single crochet, double crochet, accidental increases, intentional increases, decreases, gauge issues.
The pictures will live on but probably the swatch won’t; I’m sure I can find SOMETHING fun to make out of this where the riotousness of the short runs will be pleasing rather than overwhelming. Maybe a baby hat. Everything looks good in baby hats. (Shut up I do not have a problem. I can quit knitting baby hats anytime I want. Just not for very long.)
I think it’s likely to either hypnotize or blind viewers like this.
Come on, though, a bulky, warm little hat and maybe matching booties? Mittens? Both? Yes, I like this idea.
First, tho, I think I’ll try picking up some stitches and knitting a bit on the side of the swatch-- I’m curious to see how the variegation plays out in knitting vs. crochet, and to try a few stitches. What’s a couple inches more to frog, eh? My teacher-- whose name I didn’t catch because I am a terrible person-- was very patient with my hiccups and it was a relaxing way to spend some of our time there. I put myself on the list for info about teaching knitting next year, at their drop-in classes… There was spinning, knitting, crochet, and needlepoint. Plus, you know, everything else ever, but it’s a little overwhelming to try and talk about.
My QR code got a lot of compliments, if not too many actual scans, so that was fun!
ANYWAY, moving on to the actual knitting in progress… Let’s talk about t-shirt yarn.
The wicked secret of t-shirt yarn: I’m convinced it takes longer to cut a ball than it does to knit it up.
Severed Barbie head included for scale. And because I’m a geek.
Or maybe that’s just me. Or maybe it’s the size 36s talking. At any rate, that’s what I’ve been up to, mostly-- I’m well into my fourth shirt now, knitting away. It’s portable, but only just barely; the blanket already needs its own mondo tote bag. Bad subway knitting… decent car knitting, though. Aside from the mess.
Yup, actually, the real wicked secret of t-shirt yarn is the lint it creates. Bleaugh.
All in all I’m liking the fabric it creates; it’s heavy without being super-warm, nicely textured, and of course pretty soft. At least most of what I’ve knit in so far. There’s a little textural difference, because some of these are old shirts I wore eight thousand times and others are old shirts I got for free somewhere (excess con staff shirts, promotional junk, souvenirs or freebies) that just haven’t held up, or which I don’t want for whatever reason. Those haven’t gone through a thousand wash cycles so they’re not quite as cuddly.
I’m not worried in the least-- I expect I’ll wash it at least once right after finishing, since obviously it’s washable material, and I’ll want to de-lint it. So it’ll have chances to soften up through use and scrubbing.
Stretching to infinity… did I mention I’m getting almost 1 st / inch as gauge? Fffft.
I also like how the designs on the shirts give little patches of color without detracting much from the overall cohesion. I’m currently planning to stick to black and white, and possibly also grey, depending on what I’ve got on hand to cut up. I may just knit shirts up randomly as the mood strikes me, then knit a second rectangle and sew them together to add width once I hit my desired length. I am also toying with knitting it in squares and stitching together in alternating directions. Or I could try to pick stitches up along the edge… I know there are no-sew ways to do it, to attach something to both sides of an angle as you knit, I just don’t grok them.
Chances are I’ll take the path of least resistance and do two rectangles since this is supposed to be no-think knitting for me. If I get really into it I’ll make a second for my cousins to play with, with all the non-monochromatic old shirts. The texture is more the idea for them.
Speaking of the little ones, my babby sweater is slightly stalled; I’m at the stage where I need to attach the buttonbands, and I’ve had some trouble figuring out how I want to do that.
Second or third attempt, I forget.
I think the current frontrunner is this crochet chain technique, since it almost looks like a stockinette row. It’s not exactly hard but it takes more concentration than knitting so I want to leave it for times when I’m not rushed and have good lighting. My first attempt was a lot sloppier; now I’m being conscious to line up my chain better, one loop to each row of stockinette, matching the tension as nearly as I can.
One band-- the one pictured, actually-- is a little wobbly-looking because I knit it separately and grafted it down rather than knitting it up-- I didn’t want to have the colors travel on the visible edge. I’m not 100% sure if I’m okay with it-- we’ll see. If worst comes to worst, it took me about an hour to do so I’m pretty sure I’d be emotionally capable of ripping and re-doing it. Though if I were smart I’d probably have attached the good one, first.
I suspect I can tug and block it into submission, though, before I cement its current state by starting the hood. I should try to sort out which side goes under, too-- if this is the under side (I never remember how it works, I know it’s gender-dependent but I wear men’s shirts unapologetically so I always forget which is which) I’m not going to worry at all.
Playing with the macro setting on my camera, deal w/ it.
I really, really love the complexity of the color in this yarn-- it looks unequivocally blue to me on the whole, but there’s so much depth to it and the pinkish undertones manage to make it really lively, without being overwhelming. The gray-brown works better than I had hoped in contrast. I can’t wait to finish this project just to see it, and of course, to hand it over.
I’m pretty excited about the hood-- once I get to that this will be good subway knitting again! And after the hood comes the sewing up, which scares me again, buuuut after that it’ll be one more ecksmuss gift sorted out.
I just need to get my mojo back and knit a little more regularly.
My fondness for rainbow chaos strikes again!
This past weekend at Maker Faire, I learned to crochet! I created a fairly ugly irregular vaguely square-shaped swatch, out of some nice yarn that frankly looked better in the ball than it does like this.
Featuring: single crochet, double crochet, accidental increases, intentional increases, decreases, gauge issues.
The pictures will live on but probably the swatch won’t; I’m sure I can find SOMETHING fun to make out of this where the riotousness of the short runs will be pleasing rather than overwhelming. Maybe a baby hat. Everything looks good in baby hats. (Shut up I do not have a problem. I can quit knitting baby hats anytime I want. Just not for very long.)
I think it’s likely to either hypnotize or blind viewers like this.
Come on, though, a bulky, warm little hat and maybe matching booties? Mittens? Both? Yes, I like this idea.
First, tho, I think I’ll try picking up some stitches and knitting a bit on the side of the swatch-- I’m curious to see how the variegation plays out in knitting vs. crochet, and to try a few stitches. What’s a couple inches more to frog, eh? My teacher-- whose name I didn’t catch because I am a terrible person-- was very patient with my hiccups and it was a relaxing way to spend some of our time there. I put myself on the list for info about teaching knitting next year, at their drop-in classes… There was spinning, knitting, crochet, and needlepoint. Plus, you know, everything else ever, but it’s a little overwhelming to try and talk about.
My QR code got a lot of compliments, if not too many actual scans, so that was fun!
ANYWAY, moving on to the actual knitting in progress… Let’s talk about t-shirt yarn.
The wicked secret of t-shirt yarn: I’m convinced it takes longer to cut a ball than it does to knit it up.
Severed Barbie head included for scale. And because I’m a geek.
Or maybe that’s just me. Or maybe it’s the size 36s talking. At any rate, that’s what I’ve been up to, mostly-- I’m well into my fourth shirt now, knitting away. It’s portable, but only just barely; the blanket already needs its own mondo tote bag. Bad subway knitting… decent car knitting, though. Aside from the mess.
Yup, actually, the real wicked secret of t-shirt yarn is the lint it creates. Bleaugh.
All in all I’m liking the fabric it creates; it’s heavy without being super-warm, nicely textured, and of course pretty soft. At least most of what I’ve knit in so far. There’s a little textural difference, because some of these are old shirts I wore eight thousand times and others are old shirts I got for free somewhere (excess con staff shirts, promotional junk, souvenirs or freebies) that just haven’t held up, or which I don’t want for whatever reason. Those haven’t gone through a thousand wash cycles so they’re not quite as cuddly.
I’m not worried in the least-- I expect I’ll wash it at least once right after finishing, since obviously it’s washable material, and I’ll want to de-lint it. So it’ll have chances to soften up through use and scrubbing.
Stretching to infinity… did I mention I’m getting almost 1 st / inch as gauge? Fffft.
I also like how the designs on the shirts give little patches of color without detracting much from the overall cohesion. I’m currently planning to stick to black and white, and possibly also grey, depending on what I’ve got on hand to cut up. I may just knit shirts up randomly as the mood strikes me, then knit a second rectangle and sew them together to add width once I hit my desired length. I am also toying with knitting it in squares and stitching together in alternating directions. Or I could try to pick stitches up along the edge… I know there are no-sew ways to do it, to attach something to both sides of an angle as you knit, I just don’t grok them.
Chances are I’ll take the path of least resistance and do two rectangles since this is supposed to be no-think knitting for me. If I get really into it I’ll make a second for my cousins to play with, with all the non-monochromatic old shirts. The texture is more the idea for them.
Speaking of the little ones, my babby sweater is slightly stalled; I’m at the stage where I need to attach the buttonbands, and I’ve had some trouble figuring out how I want to do that.
Second or third attempt, I forget.
I think the current frontrunner is this crochet chain technique, since it almost looks like a stockinette row. It’s not exactly hard but it takes more concentration than knitting so I want to leave it for times when I’m not rushed and have good lighting. My first attempt was a lot sloppier; now I’m being conscious to line up my chain better, one loop to each row of stockinette, matching the tension as nearly as I can.
One band-- the one pictured, actually-- is a little wobbly-looking because I knit it separately and grafted it down rather than knitting it up-- I didn’t want to have the colors travel on the visible edge. I’m not 100% sure if I’m okay with it-- we’ll see. If worst comes to worst, it took me about an hour to do so I’m pretty sure I’d be emotionally capable of ripping and re-doing it. Though if I were smart I’d probably have attached the good one, first.
I suspect I can tug and block it into submission, though, before I cement its current state by starting the hood. I should try to sort out which side goes under, too-- if this is the under side (I never remember how it works, I know it’s gender-dependent but I wear men’s shirts unapologetically so I always forget which is which) I’m not going to worry at all.
Playing with the macro setting on my camera, deal w/ it.
I really, really love the complexity of the color in this yarn-- it looks unequivocally blue to me on the whole, but there’s so much depth to it and the pinkish undertones manage to make it really lively, without being overwhelming. The gray-brown works better than I had hoped in contrast. I can’t wait to finish this project just to see it, and of course, to hand it over.
I’m pretty excited about the hood-- once I get to that this will be good subway knitting again! And after the hood comes the sewing up, which scares me again, buuuut after that it’ll be one more ecksmuss gift sorted out.
I just need to get my mojo back and knit a little more regularly.
Friday, September 13, 2013
][ 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.
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.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
][ 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.)
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.)
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
][ 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!
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!
Thursday, September 5, 2013
][ 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 fortomorrow 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.
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
Wooohooo.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
][ 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?
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?
Friday, July 26, 2013
][ 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!
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.
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!
Monday, July 15, 2013
][ 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....
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....
Saturday, June 29, 2013
][ Stuff I made!
Just dropping by to show off a few things. First up, I finished that little green bump I've been working on forever:
Eventually I'll try to figure out what to call it weight-wise (it's very, very light. Shockingly light. Must learn to spin bulkier yarns, stat,) and what to make with it. Something a little lacy would be nice. Something not too complex. There's not that much.
I've been putting in a lot of work on that green cloche, which is officially the longest day of the year, but which I am colloquially calling The Great Hatsby.
This is basically my favorite picture ever.
I spent a lovely evening with it in our backyard, and today I'm taking it out to Long Island, as seems appropriate. I'm currently picking up stitches for the second concentric circle.
And finally I made....
I swear I'll find a method of spinning hemp that doesn't make me completely batty, someday. I couldn't even tell you why I'm so determined, but I am.
Eventually I'll try to figure out what to call it weight-wise (it's very, very light. Shockingly light. Must learn to spin bulkier yarns, stat,) and what to make with it. Something a little lacy would be nice. Something not too complex. There's not that much.
I've been putting in a lot of work on that green cloche, which is officially the longest day of the year, but which I am colloquially calling The Great Hatsby.
This is basically my favorite picture ever.
I spent a lovely evening with it in our backyard, and today I'm taking it out to Long Island, as seems appropriate. I'm currently picking up stitches for the second concentric circle.
And finally I made....
I swear I'll find a method of spinning hemp that doesn't make me completely batty, someday. I couldn't even tell you why I'm so determined, but I am.
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