Have you ever logged on to the handy interweb with a list of things to do--things you've done before, things that are perfectly easy--and had your brain turn to goo and suddenly every single thing you do starts a landslide of events that just gets worse and worse and worse so that the 3 things you need to do end up taking 10 times as long?
That's me today. I swear I don't know what it going on. I used to do tech support. I was very good at it, too. Sometimes my brain just doesn't want to use logic and reasoning, I guess. Sheesh.
Anyway. Yeah. One of the things I needed to do was post here. You would think that would be easy, but I turned it into a 20 minute affair just to get here.
I'm going to blame my cold. Yes. It's the cold.
Anyway, I have a few updates. First of all, I'm restarting the JustDishcloths mailing list. So, if you love dishcloths, but hate getting 500 emails, check us out.
The second thing is that I've decided to move my online store to Etsy. I'm just in the beginning stages of that right now, but I plan to put my patterns up for sale as well as some finished objects and stitch markers. Perhaps even some of my other projects. (Did I mention I'm making soap now?) Anyway, my goal is to have it up and running by next week. I'll post here when it's ready.
I was going to update on some crafty things, too, but, seriously, I fried my brain today. I will have to come back and post about that later.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
I really shouldn't start projects at 11pm.
I'm several months ahead of my Knitter's Almanac project. It helps that I'm skipping all the fair isle and the projects for summer are small.
Anyway, I thought I'd pick up a new project using the Gedifra Florida that I picked up for $2 a ball while at Webs on my trip back to MA for Reunion. It's a DK and I've been wanting to do a cheap-and-chearful shawl with some DK for a while now. So much faster to knit when you can use 8s instead of 5s.
So, I cast on for A Handsome Triangle from Victorian Lace Today. And I had to frog at 8 rows, because I realized that it was terribly lopsided. I was working purely from the chart, only I failed to notice that the chart was only half the shawl and I needed to work to one side and then work backwards.
Ok, problem solved. I cast on again.
Only, this time with 4 increases per row instead of 2, the shape of the shawl was decidedly not triangular. Perhaps it would block out? I soldiered on.
Then, I noticed that the photograph in the book looked NOTHING like what I was doing. I had a large, basically stockinette section at the beginning, and the photo in the book had the lace starting right away. What the heck? Why would they include a graph that didn't have you start the lace until 22 rows in when the sample had the lace start right away?
I checked double checked the errata page on the XRX books website to see if they'd fixed the graph, and nope. Surely they would have caught something like that by now. So, again, I picked up the sticks and determined to finish the first repeat of the lace pattern.
This is when I really got frustrated. Not only was it not triangular, not only was my lace starting too high up, but now the lace actually looked NOTHING like the lace in the sample. I was ready to give up. I figured I must be doing something fundamentally wrong with how I was reading the graph. It was the first time I'd used a graph that you had to read backwards and forwards, so perhaps I needed to reverse some stitches or something. I checked the information in the back and it seemed like I was doing it right.
So, I googled. And I found several photos, but one looked like the sample, and the other looked like mine, and I didn't know what was going on. So, I checked on Ravelry. And while I was looking at an example there, it all finally clicked. Though you start by casting on only 4 stitches, this pattern does, indeed, start at the NECK, not at the bottom point. And so, the reason why I didn't see the large stockinette section was because it was not in the close-up of the shawl. And the reason why it wasn't triangular is because the increases are actually making the hypotenuse. And the reason why my lace looked NOTHING like the pattern was because I'm knitting it upside-down
Good gravy. All of this probably would have been apparent had I started it after dinner instead of late at night while watching The Prestige on cable.
Anyway, I thought I'd pick up a new project using the Gedifra Florida that I picked up for $2 a ball while at Webs on my trip back to MA for Reunion. It's a DK and I've been wanting to do a cheap-and-chearful shawl with some DK for a while now. So much faster to knit when you can use 8s instead of 5s.
So, I cast on for A Handsome Triangle from Victorian Lace Today. And I had to frog at 8 rows, because I realized that it was terribly lopsided. I was working purely from the chart, only I failed to notice that the chart was only half the shawl and I needed to work to one side and then work backwards.
Ok, problem solved. I cast on again.
Only, this time with 4 increases per row instead of 2, the shape of the shawl was decidedly not triangular. Perhaps it would block out? I soldiered on.
Then, I noticed that the photograph in the book looked NOTHING like what I was doing. I had a large, basically stockinette section at the beginning, and the photo in the book had the lace starting right away. What the heck? Why would they include a graph that didn't have you start the lace until 22 rows in when the sample had the lace start right away?
I checked double checked the errata page on the XRX books website to see if they'd fixed the graph, and nope. Surely they would have caught something like that by now. So, again, I picked up the sticks and determined to finish the first repeat of the lace pattern.
This is when I really got frustrated. Not only was it not triangular, not only was my lace starting too high up, but now the lace actually looked NOTHING like the lace in the sample. I was ready to give up. I figured I must be doing something fundamentally wrong with how I was reading the graph. It was the first time I'd used a graph that you had to read backwards and forwards, so perhaps I needed to reverse some stitches or something. I checked the information in the back and it seemed like I was doing it right.
So, I googled. And I found several photos, but one looked like the sample, and the other looked like mine, and I didn't know what was going on. So, I checked on Ravelry. And while I was looking at an example there, it all finally clicked. Though you start by casting on only 4 stitches, this pattern does, indeed, start at the NECK, not at the bottom point. And so, the reason why I didn't see the large stockinette section was because it was not in the close-up of the shawl. And the reason why it wasn't triangular is because the increases are actually making the hypotenuse. And the reason why my lace looked NOTHING like the pattern was because I'm knitting it upside-down
Good gravy. All of this probably would have been apparent had I started it after dinner instead of late at night while watching The Prestige on cable.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sometimes, you just have to make an executive decision.
I'm thinking of knitting Jaden (without the ties, with the neckline brought in a bit and without the top ridge since there will be no ties) using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. I have a bunch of white left from the pillows I made for the book, so I should be able to get away with just buying a few more skeins, which would mean that I could pay for most of it on my Webs gift card and finally get rid of it. (I've lost enough gift cards in my time to have a hefty paranoia about losing them before I can spend them.)
The thought is to knit it in white so I can wear it for Alumnae Parade at my 10 year reunion in May. I figure I should be able to find a basic, white, A-line skirt to go with it, right? If not, maybe I could make one without much panic.
I say all this now. Wait until May rolls around and we'll see how much I'm freaking out then.
Also, all of this means that I'm bailing on the EZ Knitter's Almanac project for this month. I have a hearty hatred for fair-isle, and while I'm LOVING the yarn (oh, the softness), I've knit on it TWICE so far and the month is 1/3rd gone. That's a grand total of about 2.5 inches on the body. It's just not going to happen. I have purged and reorganized 3 rooms of my house and gotten halfway through the morass that is our office/workout room/craft room JUST to justify NOT working on the Chainmail Sweater for March. It's the only project in the Almanac that I'm really not a fan of, so I'm going to go ahead and take a pass. I feel a little guilty about skipping it, to be honest, but I'm not being graded, no one is paying me, I'm not going to get fired. It's a personal goal and if it's something that is going to make me nuts in a bad way, then I should be ok with not doing it. So, yeah. I am ok with skipping it. It's not like the sweater is going to sit in a corner and cry because I'm not working on it.
Anyway, all of this leaves me with another problem, which is that I don't really want to start on it right away. I've gone down a size since the year started, and I hope to be down another by May. I don't know that it will happen or not, which is kind of the issue. If I'm going to put all the time into knitting the sweater, I want it to fit. So, I'm thinking I need to just not start it until maybe mid-April and see how things stand. In the meantime, I do believe I shall move on to the April project from the Almanac so that I can have it done and out of the way to free up the time to knit Jaden.
The thought is to knit it in white so I can wear it for Alumnae Parade at my 10 year reunion in May. I figure I should be able to find a basic, white, A-line skirt to go with it, right? If not, maybe I could make one without much panic.
I say all this now. Wait until May rolls around and we'll see how much I'm freaking out then.
Also, all of this means that I'm bailing on the EZ Knitter's Almanac project for this month. I have a hearty hatred for fair-isle, and while I'm LOVING the yarn (oh, the softness), I've knit on it TWICE so far and the month is 1/3rd gone. That's a grand total of about 2.5 inches on the body. It's just not going to happen. I have purged and reorganized 3 rooms of my house and gotten halfway through the morass that is our office/workout room/craft room JUST to justify NOT working on the Chainmail Sweater for March. It's the only project in the Almanac that I'm really not a fan of, so I'm going to go ahead and take a pass. I feel a little guilty about skipping it, to be honest, but I'm not being graded, no one is paying me, I'm not going to get fired. It's a personal goal and if it's something that is going to make me nuts in a bad way, then I should be ok with not doing it. So, yeah. I am ok with skipping it. It's not like the sweater is going to sit in a corner and cry because I'm not working on it.
Anyway, all of this leaves me with another problem, which is that I don't really want to start on it right away. I've gone down a size since the year started, and I hope to be down another by May. I don't know that it will happen or not, which is kind of the issue. If I'm going to put all the time into knitting the sweater, I want it to fit. So, I'm thinking I need to just not start it until maybe mid-April and see how things stand. In the meantime, I do believe I shall move on to the April project from the Almanac so that I can have it done and out of the way to free up the time to knit Jaden.
Friday, February 29, 2008
That's February done then.
Ta-da!
I managed to make my way through all the February projects with time to spare! I finished the last of the work last night. I didn't need the leap-day afterall, but it's given me time to blog about it in the same month I finished them, so that's nice.
First, the Double Knitting Pad
This was worked up with double stranded Cascade 220 superwash. I originally cast on wider than the pattern called for, but worked it shorter, because I realized I wouldn't have enough time to finish everything for the month if I worked it up as long as I wanted to. So, in the end it ended up the dimensions the pattern called for, but worked sideways instead of longways.
Double knitting is a fun trick, but knitting in the round is MUCH easier. I managed to make my way through with only 3 spots where I didn't slip the stitches properly. They didn't effect the look of project, so I didn't bother to rip back. I'm sure the baby who ends up with it won't mind.
It's very squooshy. I think it'll make a great tummy pad, and the wool is machine washable, so it can get as much drool as the baby can dish out.
Next we have the shawl:
This was knit up in Valley Yarns 8/2 Merino Cashmere. It was all on one cone and still had the machine oil on it, but after I finished and washed it, the yarn didn't fluff up much. If anything, it shrank a bit in the water and I had to really stretch it to get it back to size. It didn't felt at all, it just relaxed in on itself. I was worried that I'd run out of yarn on the cone, so I stopped when the pattern told me to, even though I thought it might be a bit small on my wide shoulders. And, it is. but it's still warm and I love it and if I never do wear it as a shawl, it will make a nice lapghan or baby blanket.
She didn't give directions for the lace pattern she used in the book, so I just picked out a simple diamond lace pattern. With the simplicity of the pattern and the tweediness of the yarn, it looks very rustic to me. When I put it on, I feel like I should be coercing a couple of children into my candy house to take a look at my stove. *cackle*
Ahem... Moving on... Next was the Baby Sweater on Two Needles:
Worked up in a sport-weight wool/alpaca blend, I think this is my favorite project of the month. Love. It. It's a yoke-down sweater and the only seams to sew at the end are the sleeves. Brilliant. The lace pattern was really simple and this was a super-fast knit. It'd be a great gift if you know a mom who is into vintage baby gear.
Finally, the longies:
I wanted to knit these in the same yarn as the sweater, but the directions called for 3 oz and I only had 2 5/8 or something like that. In the end, it would have been enough, but there was no way to know that at the time. One thing that has been frustrating about this Knitter's Almanac project so far has been that she is so vague about yarn requirements. I'm so used to dealing with yardages that getting it in ounces is making me a bit batty.
Back to the matter at hand, though, these were also very fast. In the book, they have feet. I left the feet off, because not all babies have tiny feet (like all the babies in my family) and since I'm note sure if I'm donating these yet, I didn't want someone to end up with them and have them be an annoyance to the baby wearing them. Still, the pattern went very fast as it was all stockinette in the round, but there was enough shaping involved to keep it interesting. I'd definitely do these again.
Like I said, I finished it all Thursday night, which meant that Thursday night and today I was able to work on the January Aran Sweater some more:
I'm 16 rounds into it at this point and you can really see the patterns emerging. The 5-stitch cable is really cool. It seems to lie flatter than a 4- or 8-stitch cable. I'm not in love with the yarn, but I'm glad to finally have a use for it. It should be very warm when it's done.
Tomorrow, I'll start swatching for the Chainmail Sweater, which is the project for March. I'll be using the SWTC Optimum DK that Jenny gave me a while back. I have juuuust enough of the silver and plenty of the other two colors. I'm so glad to have a use for this stuff, because it is so heavenly to work with.
Ooooh, the smooshy goodness. I am having a hard time not casting on for this baby right now... Must work on January sweater some more... Must resist.... optim... wool...
I managed to make my way through all the February projects with time to spare! I finished the last of the work last night. I didn't need the leap-day afterall, but it's given me time to blog about it in the same month I finished them, so that's nice.
First, the Double Knitting Pad
This was worked up with double stranded Cascade 220 superwash. I originally cast on wider than the pattern called for, but worked it shorter, because I realized I wouldn't have enough time to finish everything for the month if I worked it up as long as I wanted to. So, in the end it ended up the dimensions the pattern called for, but worked sideways instead of longways.
Double knitting is a fun trick, but knitting in the round is MUCH easier. I managed to make my way through with only 3 spots where I didn't slip the stitches properly. They didn't effect the look of project, so I didn't bother to rip back. I'm sure the baby who ends up with it won't mind.
It's very squooshy. I think it'll make a great tummy pad, and the wool is machine washable, so it can get as much drool as the baby can dish out.
Next we have the shawl:
This was knit up in Valley Yarns 8/2 Merino Cashmere. It was all on one cone and still had the machine oil on it, but after I finished and washed it, the yarn didn't fluff up much. If anything, it shrank a bit in the water and I had to really stretch it to get it back to size. It didn't felt at all, it just relaxed in on itself. I was worried that I'd run out of yarn on the cone, so I stopped when the pattern told me to, even though I thought it might be a bit small on my wide shoulders. And, it is. but it's still warm and I love it and if I never do wear it as a shawl, it will make a nice lapghan or baby blanket.
She didn't give directions for the lace pattern she used in the book, so I just picked out a simple diamond lace pattern. With the simplicity of the pattern and the tweediness of the yarn, it looks very rustic to me. When I put it on, I feel like I should be coercing a couple of children into my candy house to take a look at my stove. *cackle*
Ahem... Moving on... Next was the Baby Sweater on Two Needles:
Worked up in a sport-weight wool/alpaca blend, I think this is my favorite project of the month. Love. It. It's a yoke-down sweater and the only seams to sew at the end are the sleeves. Brilliant. The lace pattern was really simple and this was a super-fast knit. It'd be a great gift if you know a mom who is into vintage baby gear.
Finally, the longies:
I wanted to knit these in the same yarn as the sweater, but the directions called for 3 oz and I only had 2 5/8 or something like that. In the end, it would have been enough, but there was no way to know that at the time. One thing that has been frustrating about this Knitter's Almanac project so far has been that she is so vague about yarn requirements. I'm so used to dealing with yardages that getting it in ounces is making me a bit batty.
Back to the matter at hand, though, these were also very fast. In the book, they have feet. I left the feet off, because not all babies have tiny feet (like all the babies in my family) and since I'm note sure if I'm donating these yet, I didn't want someone to end up with them and have them be an annoyance to the baby wearing them. Still, the pattern went very fast as it was all stockinette in the round, but there was enough shaping involved to keep it interesting. I'd definitely do these again.
Like I said, I finished it all Thursday night, which meant that Thursday night and today I was able to work on the January Aran Sweater some more:
I'm 16 rounds into it at this point and you can really see the patterns emerging. The 5-stitch cable is really cool. It seems to lie flatter than a 4- or 8-stitch cable. I'm not in love with the yarn, but I'm glad to finally have a use for it. It should be very warm when it's done.
Tomorrow, I'll start swatching for the Chainmail Sweater, which is the project for March. I'll be using the SWTC Optimum DK that Jenny gave me a while back. I have juuuust enough of the silver and plenty of the other two colors. I'm so glad to have a use for this stuff, because it is so heavenly to work with.
Ooooh, the smooshy goodness. I am having a hard time not casting on for this baby right now... Must work on January sweater some more... Must resist.... optim... wool...
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Shawl? Check!
The shawl finised and is currently blocked out on our living room floor. I'm having a heck of a time keeping the girls off of it. Kai is old enough to have a healthy fear of touching something that's being blocked, but Abby is still learning.
I'm not sure now, post-blocking, if it was the exact same yarn as that Yarn Harlot entry that Jenny saw. It didn't seem to bloom as much, and while it lost some of it's dye in the soak, it didn't fade nearly as much as hers seemed to. But, I dunno, the color differences may be accounted for by photography. I wasn't able to get a before shot of the shawl, because I can't find the camera. An after shot is going to have to wait a while, too, I guess.
I'm not positive, but I think that it's going to be a touch too small for me to wear without fiddling with it a lot. I'm not a big shawl wearer in general, so I don't think I'll have the patience for one that needs to be adjusted all the time. It is, however, a good size for a baby blanket, so if it does turn out to be less than comfortable, I'm sure I could gift it away no problem. This assessment was pre-blocking, though, so it might be a bit looser on the other end.
It's funny how the oil wasn't all that apparent to me when I was knitting with it, but the second I put it in the soaking water, it got VERY slick. I can't really assess the softness at this point, either. Still waiting for it to dry.
Last night, I cast on for the baby sweater on 2 needles. I'm knitting it according to her pattern except that I'm only planning on putting on the top 3 buttons, so I only need to worry about that many button holes. I've knit the garter stitch top and one repeat of the pattern. I'm using some DK weight wool/alpaca blend that I've had for ages. It's creamsicle colored! Sa-weet! It's part of the wool mom bought at Webs ages ago that was packaged for sale in Russia, so I have no idea what the "real" brand is, but it's very soft and I love it to bits. I'm glad to finally have a use for it. I've tried trading it away before, because I was sad to see it sitting there unused for so long, but I don't think anyone was willing to take a change on yarn when they don't know it's true origin and can't touch it in person.
I'm thinking there is no way I'm going to get this sweater and the longies done by the end of the month. It's just too much knitting. Next month is a sweater, but I believe it calls for worsted weight yarn and March has 31 days, so I may be ok. If not, later in the summer, things slow down a bit. I'm still aiming to get it all done!
I'm not sure now, post-blocking, if it was the exact same yarn as that Yarn Harlot entry that Jenny saw. It didn't seem to bloom as much, and while it lost some of it's dye in the soak, it didn't fade nearly as much as hers seemed to. But, I dunno, the color differences may be accounted for by photography. I wasn't able to get a before shot of the shawl, because I can't find the camera. An after shot is going to have to wait a while, too, I guess.
I'm not positive, but I think that it's going to be a touch too small for me to wear without fiddling with it a lot. I'm not a big shawl wearer in general, so I don't think I'll have the patience for one that needs to be adjusted all the time. It is, however, a good size for a baby blanket, so if it does turn out to be less than comfortable, I'm sure I could gift it away no problem. This assessment was pre-blocking, though, so it might be a bit looser on the other end.
It's funny how the oil wasn't all that apparent to me when I was knitting with it, but the second I put it in the soaking water, it got VERY slick. I can't really assess the softness at this point, either. Still waiting for it to dry.
Last night, I cast on for the baby sweater on 2 needles. I'm knitting it according to her pattern except that I'm only planning on putting on the top 3 buttons, so I only need to worry about that many button holes. I've knit the garter stitch top and one repeat of the pattern. I'm using some DK weight wool/alpaca blend that I've had for ages. It's creamsicle colored! Sa-weet! It's part of the wool mom bought at Webs ages ago that was packaged for sale in Russia, so I have no idea what the "real" brand is, but it's very soft and I love it to bits. I'm glad to finally have a use for it. I've tried trading it away before, because I was sad to see it sitting there unused for so long, but I don't think anyone was willing to take a change on yarn when they don't know it's true origin and can't touch it in person.
I'm thinking there is no way I'm going to get this sweater and the longies done by the end of the month. It's just too much knitting. Next month is a sweater, but I believe it calls for worsted weight yarn and March has 31 days, so I may be ok. If not, later in the summer, things slow down a bit. I'm still aiming to get it all done!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Lizzie, why you play me like that?
Progress on the Knitter's Almanac front.
I'm 8 rounds in to the January sweater. Last night, I cast off the baby pad. This morning I moved on to the second February project, which is a lace shawl.
Oh, shawl... you shall be conquered yet.
Elizabeth Zimmerman is... how shall we say it... a litle vague? After writing about Shetland wool and how it comes in many different sizes, she then offers up a pattern for a shawl, calling for 10 oz of Shetland wool that knits to 4 stitches to the inch when knit loosely on size 5-8 needles.
A-what now?
Could she possibly be more vague?!
I poked around online a bit and came up with nothing, so I posted for help on the LiveJournal knitting community and Cynthia pointed me to Ravelry (dur) where a woman had made several different versions of the same shawl using lots of different yarns. Seeing that made it ok for me to not freak about the yarn so much and I started stash diving.
I pulled out some DK cotton in a very, very bright blue-green and some loverly alpaca that I didn't have enough of in one color, but I could do stripes of brown, green and purple. Neither one of those options really floated my boat, so I made my way to the office where I've stashed all my to-destash yarns. I found a cone of 80/20 merino/cashmere blend in a dk-ish 2-ply. I'd bought it a long time ago from Webs when my mom sent me a gift card for Christmas one year. It was on major-can't-pass-up markdown, so I got a cone of it. It's a very rich brown with flecks of orange and barker brown in it. I loved the color, loved the fiber, and it was on sale, so I ordered it.
And then it arrived. Hrm. It wasn't what I was expecting. It was coarser than I thought, and the plies weren't wound very tight. I was enough of a nice-yarn noob to not realize that it had been created for weaving and machine knitting. Once it's washed, it should soften up quite a bit. However, once I learned that tidbit, I wasn't really in the mood to knit with it anymore. And so it's sat in the stash for at least 3 years at this point.
When I saw it this morning, little bells went off and I knew it was going to become this shawl. I sat down with some DPNs to get started. I did a gauge swatch on 8's and it was slightly below what it called for, so I grabbed some 9's and jumped in.
It begins with a crochet cast on that has you make a loop and then pull up additional loops through that first loop and leave them on the hook. You transfer them all on to your DPNs and start knitting from there. You only start with 8 stitches. Divided up on 4 DPNs. I tell you, it is a miracle I didn't impale myself during the first 4 rounds. After that, the flailing needles settled into a square and I could carry on without risk of bodily injury. At 64 stitches, I can transfer them to a 16" circ, but I'm only at 56 so far. Close.
I need to stop at that point, though, because another vaguary of Madame Liz is that she tells you to just pick a lace pattern, make sure it's centered in the 4 panels, and start in on it. So before I can go much farther, I need to settle on a lace pattern, too. I suppose I could go a few more inches without one, but I do like the look of the sample in the book where it starts from almost the center. Thank goodness for stitch guides.
This year of the Knitter's Almanac may be my undoing.
I'm 8 rounds in to the January sweater. Last night, I cast off the baby pad. This morning I moved on to the second February project, which is a lace shawl.
Oh, shawl... you shall be conquered yet.
Elizabeth Zimmerman is... how shall we say it... a litle vague? After writing about Shetland wool and how it comes in many different sizes, she then offers up a pattern for a shawl, calling for 10 oz of Shetland wool that knits to 4 stitches to the inch when knit loosely on size 5-8 needles.
A-what now?
Could she possibly be more vague?!
I poked around online a bit and came up with nothing, so I posted for help on the LiveJournal knitting community and Cynthia pointed me to Ravelry (dur) where a woman had made several different versions of the same shawl using lots of different yarns. Seeing that made it ok for me to not freak about the yarn so much and I started stash diving.
I pulled out some DK cotton in a very, very bright blue-green and some loverly alpaca that I didn't have enough of in one color, but I could do stripes of brown, green and purple. Neither one of those options really floated my boat, so I made my way to the office where I've stashed all my to-destash yarns. I found a cone of 80/20 merino/cashmere blend in a dk-ish 2-ply. I'd bought it a long time ago from Webs when my mom sent me a gift card for Christmas one year. It was on major-can't-pass-up markdown, so I got a cone of it. It's a very rich brown with flecks of orange and barker brown in it. I loved the color, loved the fiber, and it was on sale, so I ordered it.
And then it arrived. Hrm. It wasn't what I was expecting. It was coarser than I thought, and the plies weren't wound very tight. I was enough of a nice-yarn noob to not realize that it had been created for weaving and machine knitting. Once it's washed, it should soften up quite a bit. However, once I learned that tidbit, I wasn't really in the mood to knit with it anymore. And so it's sat in the stash for at least 3 years at this point.
When I saw it this morning, little bells went off and I knew it was going to become this shawl. I sat down with some DPNs to get started. I did a gauge swatch on 8's and it was slightly below what it called for, so I grabbed some 9's and jumped in.
It begins with a crochet cast on that has you make a loop and then pull up additional loops through that first loop and leave them on the hook. You transfer them all on to your DPNs and start knitting from there. You only start with 8 stitches. Divided up on 4 DPNs. I tell you, it is a miracle I didn't impale myself during the first 4 rounds. After that, the flailing needles settled into a square and I could carry on without risk of bodily injury. At 64 stitches, I can transfer them to a 16" circ, but I'm only at 56 so far. Close.
I need to stop at that point, though, because another vaguary of Madame Liz is that she tells you to just pick a lace pattern, make sure it's centered in the 4 panels, and start in on it. So before I can go much farther, I need to settle on a lace pattern, too. I suppose I could go a few more inches without one, but I do like the look of the sample in the book where it starts from almost the center. Thank goodness for stitch guides.
This year of the Knitter's Almanac may be my undoing.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
So what are you doing craftwise, anyway?
Good question.
It was to be The Year of Lace. I have a metric ton of laceweight yarn. I have a set of knitpicks Harmony needles that are pointy and slightly grippy and have a little hole where I can attach a life line. I have many, many lace projects marked in several books.
Then, I made the mistake of starting my year of lace early with a project that was very simple. It was simple. It still is simple. However, it requires a knitted on border.
Knitted-on borders can bite my butt. They are tedious and boring. I started one night and haven't picked it up since. I would rather lose a toe nail to an angrily slammed door than continue with the knitted on border.
So, what then? All my lace projects for the year have knitted on borders. My aversion to starting any more lace projects has been so strong that I haven't been doing much knitting or crochet at all lately.
Last year I did all I could to knit from stash, which was great, but my stash has only dwindled slightly because people have given me more yarn. So I still have tons of wool that has gone unused. (Yeah, ok, fine, I bought some, too, but not nearly as much as in past years.)
And then yesterday, I picked up my copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. And, it hit me. This year will be the Year of Elizabeth. The book contains many projects, and most of them are challenging in their own way. Several sweaters, socks, mittens, hats, baby things, heck, even tights if you can believe it. And, the best part is that ALL of the projects call for yarn that I can pull from my stash. There are a few projects in the book that I would neither wear nor expect anyone around me to wear (Srsly, wool tights in AZ?) but would make excellent donations to LDS Humanitarian Services or Afghans for Afghans. A lot of my wool that is hanging around in the stash doing nothing has been earmarked for charity knitting anyway. So, hopefully I can kill three birds with one stone: further deplete the stash, continue with my charity knitting, and pick up some really solid skills from Ms. EZ.
I am starting late, so it's going to be a bit of a push to get caught up. This month, the project was an Aran sweater, knit in the round, steeked for the arms, with an option of steeking it to make a cardigan. I've decided to forgo the cardigan option and am making it up with some old Patons Ballybrae I got from my mother's stash a long time ago. It's a very sturdy wool, suitable for outer layers. It's tweedy with a purple base and pink and white bits in it, so it's not particularly 'of the now' colorwise, but it should to very well for an Afghan winter.
I hit a stumbling block yesterday when I couldn't find my lovely Harmony needles anywhere, but I got cast on with some old circs I had lying around. And I began to knit. And I messed up in the count somehow and tore it all out and re-cast on. I wish I was exagerating when I say that I repeated this process 6 times yesterday before finally giving up past midnight and going to bed. The Year of Elizabeth had a rather dismal start.
This morning I got myself up and going. I even found my needles. They were in a Webs bag hanging on our bedroom door that has been there for so long that I'd stopped seeing it anymore. When we got back from the park, I cast on again and began to knit the first round. This time, though, as I cast on, I put a stitch marker between each of the 4 pattern repeats and Voila, I made it through the first round with no problems. I am on my way!
It's not the most conducive project for knit club or even watching TV, though I think once I have the pattern down better, I'll be able to do the latter. So, tonight at knit club, I plan to cast on for the baby blanket project for February and I'll have both on the needles to work on as the situation permits.
Incidentally, the projects for February are a baby sweater, footy-pants, and bonnety-hat thing, a baby pad (like a small blanket) and a large baby blanket/shawl. So, I'll still be getting some lace in through the year. There are quite a bit of projects, though... Later in the year it drops off a bit and I'm hoping to get caught up to schedule at that point, but for now I just don't want to get farther than the month behind I already am.
It was to be The Year of Lace. I have a metric ton of laceweight yarn. I have a set of knitpicks Harmony needles that are pointy and slightly grippy and have a little hole where I can attach a life line. I have many, many lace projects marked in several books.
Then, I made the mistake of starting my year of lace early with a project that was very simple. It was simple. It still is simple. However, it requires a knitted on border.
Knitted-on borders can bite my butt. They are tedious and boring. I started one night and haven't picked it up since. I would rather lose a toe nail to an angrily slammed door than continue with the knitted on border.
So, what then? All my lace projects for the year have knitted on borders. My aversion to starting any more lace projects has been so strong that I haven't been doing much knitting or crochet at all lately.
Last year I did all I could to knit from stash, which was great, but my stash has only dwindled slightly because people have given me more yarn. So I still have tons of wool that has gone unused. (Yeah, ok, fine, I bought some, too, but not nearly as much as in past years.)
And then yesterday, I picked up my copy of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. And, it hit me. This year will be the Year of Elizabeth. The book contains many projects, and most of them are challenging in their own way. Several sweaters, socks, mittens, hats, baby things, heck, even tights if you can believe it. And, the best part is that ALL of the projects call for yarn that I can pull from my stash. There are a few projects in the book that I would neither wear nor expect anyone around me to wear (Srsly, wool tights in AZ?) but would make excellent donations to LDS Humanitarian Services or Afghans for Afghans. A lot of my wool that is hanging around in the stash doing nothing has been earmarked for charity knitting anyway. So, hopefully I can kill three birds with one stone: further deplete the stash, continue with my charity knitting, and pick up some really solid skills from Ms. EZ.
I am starting late, so it's going to be a bit of a push to get caught up. This month, the project was an Aran sweater, knit in the round, steeked for the arms, with an option of steeking it to make a cardigan. I've decided to forgo the cardigan option and am making it up with some old Patons Ballybrae I got from my mother's stash a long time ago. It's a very sturdy wool, suitable for outer layers. It's tweedy with a purple base and pink and white bits in it, so it's not particularly 'of the now' colorwise, but it should to very well for an Afghan winter.
I hit a stumbling block yesterday when I couldn't find my lovely Harmony needles anywhere, but I got cast on with some old circs I had lying around. And I began to knit. And I messed up in the count somehow and tore it all out and re-cast on. I wish I was exagerating when I say that I repeated this process 6 times yesterday before finally giving up past midnight and going to bed. The Year of Elizabeth had a rather dismal start.
This morning I got myself up and going. I even found my needles. They were in a Webs bag hanging on our bedroom door that has been there for so long that I'd stopped seeing it anymore. When we got back from the park, I cast on again and began to knit the first round. This time, though, as I cast on, I put a stitch marker between each of the 4 pattern repeats and Voila, I made it through the first round with no problems. I am on my way!
It's not the most conducive project for knit club or even watching TV, though I think once I have the pattern down better, I'll be able to do the latter. So, tonight at knit club, I plan to cast on for the baby blanket project for February and I'll have both on the needles to work on as the situation permits.
Incidentally, the projects for February are a baby sweater, footy-pants, and bonnety-hat thing, a baby pad (like a small blanket) and a large baby blanket/shawl. So, I'll still be getting some lace in through the year. There are quite a bit of projects, though... Later in the year it drops off a bit and I'm hoping to get caught up to schedule at that point, but for now I just don't want to get farther than the month behind I already am.
Where ya been, Anne?
So, I haven't been around, yadda, yadda.
Lemme 'splain.
For those of you new around here, and even those of you not new around here who are wondering why I haven't been posting so much, I'll fill you in.
Many of you know that my husband was in a serious car accident over the summer. He is fully recovered, has been for months now, and we've been moving forward just fine. Some things got put on hold, so after his recovery, we spent a lot of time trying to get caught up on those things, which we are about done with at this point.
But somewhere in all of that, I went through an attitude shift. Before his accident, I found nothing more entertaining that a bit of snark. I prefered that it be good-natured snark, but if it dipped into the negative at times, as long as it was funny, I'd be laughing. That's not the case anymore.
I'm not saying I've lost my sense of humor. I still laugh at the absurd, the wry, the comical. It just hit me in a very real way that life is an incredibly fragile and beautiful thing. It could all be over in an instant, which is something I knew before the accident, but hadn't fully internalized. Suddenly, I was presented with a reality that included losing a great deal of my blessings. Not just my husband, which would have been horrible in and of itself, but a whole lifestyle that I really do enjoy. I love that I can homeschool my girls. I love that I don't have to work and can be a stay-at-home mom. There is nothing that better suits me at this point in my progression. I adore watching my kids grow. Why would I complain about their shortcomings? My husband works so hard for us. Why would I knock him for it? My house may not be a mansion, but it keeps us out of the elements, maintains a fairly regulated temperature, and contains more than enough physical goods to keep us comfortable. How is there anything wrong with that?
And as far as the people around me are concerned, I am of the opinion that there is nothing more pointless than sitting around and discussing their faults. We all have faults, but I think most of us have far more good qualities than bad. And since we all have faults, why sit around pointing out the faults of others? What an extreme waste of time. We could be enjoying people for their good qualities instead of focusing on the bad when they aren't around. The funny thing is that when people are busy complaining about others, they don't realize that it is just making themselves look malicious and untrustworthy. I know I didn't.
I feel like I need to enjoy my family more. I feel like I need to be in more positive places. I feel less like I need to be 'important' in the eyes of others. People can take me as I am or they can move on. I don't feel the need to blog about my craft, I feel the need to do my craft. And even that I don't feel the need to do as obsessively anymore. I feel like I've found a balance that is serving me well at the moment.
Things are just different now, and I'm quite enjoying it.
Lemme 'splain.
For those of you new around here, and even those of you not new around here who are wondering why I haven't been posting so much, I'll fill you in.
Many of you know that my husband was in a serious car accident over the summer. He is fully recovered, has been for months now, and we've been moving forward just fine. Some things got put on hold, so after his recovery, we spent a lot of time trying to get caught up on those things, which we are about done with at this point.
But somewhere in all of that, I went through an attitude shift. Before his accident, I found nothing more entertaining that a bit of snark. I prefered that it be good-natured snark, but if it dipped into the negative at times, as long as it was funny, I'd be laughing. That's not the case anymore.
I'm not saying I've lost my sense of humor. I still laugh at the absurd, the wry, the comical. It just hit me in a very real way that life is an incredibly fragile and beautiful thing. It could all be over in an instant, which is something I knew before the accident, but hadn't fully internalized. Suddenly, I was presented with a reality that included losing a great deal of my blessings. Not just my husband, which would have been horrible in and of itself, but a whole lifestyle that I really do enjoy. I love that I can homeschool my girls. I love that I don't have to work and can be a stay-at-home mom. There is nothing that better suits me at this point in my progression. I adore watching my kids grow. Why would I complain about their shortcomings? My husband works so hard for us. Why would I knock him for it? My house may not be a mansion, but it keeps us out of the elements, maintains a fairly regulated temperature, and contains more than enough physical goods to keep us comfortable. How is there anything wrong with that?
And as far as the people around me are concerned, I am of the opinion that there is nothing more pointless than sitting around and discussing their faults. We all have faults, but I think most of us have far more good qualities than bad. And since we all have faults, why sit around pointing out the faults of others? What an extreme waste of time. We could be enjoying people for their good qualities instead of focusing on the bad when they aren't around. The funny thing is that when people are busy complaining about others, they don't realize that it is just making themselves look malicious and untrustworthy. I know I didn't.
I feel like I need to enjoy my family more. I feel like I need to be in more positive places. I feel less like I need to be 'important' in the eyes of others. People can take me as I am or they can move on. I don't feel the need to blog about my craft, I feel the need to do my craft. And even that I don't feel the need to do as obsessively anymore. I feel like I've found a balance that is serving me well at the moment.
Things are just different now, and I'm quite enjoying it.
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