Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Here's my sweater from last night's class:

We sewed the shoulder seams using two different methods.  When you sew stitches to stitches, I say you're sewing "apples to apples".  Then we attached the sleeve by sewing stitches to rows, which I call sewing "apples to oranges".  Then we sewed the sleeve and side seams by sewing rows to rows, which I call sewing "oranges to oranges".  The other side isn't sewn up yet, since we're going to knit the second sleeve from the top down.  Why?  Because we can. 

This next picture is for Daphne:

It shows the underarm, where all the seams come together.  See the little teeny tiny blue blip in the middle?  I used blue yarn to sew the seams, and that little teeny bit in the center still shows.  I'm not concerned about it, but if you want to focus on it, go right ahead.  For the rest of you who can see the bigger picture, look how nice the seams look!  Daphne asked how to get that center spot to look right.  My answer is to do it until it looks right (does that help?), and I would have to add that you shouldn't use a contrasting color yarn.  I did so my students could see what I was doing.

I'm off to Pittsburgh tomorrow.  Why aren't there any knitting books on tape?  One with a historical perspective would be a good candidate.

Do you think Mica is going to miss me?

I should be back on Sunday. 

Sarah

Monday, April 28, 2003

I'll be busy tonight helping ten students sew their sweaters together, so here's another early entry.

I added another section on the right hand side of my blog, called "What I'm done working on".  That's where my finished projects will go, each with a link to a photograph.

I finished my Have Fun! Scarf, and pressed it.  Here it is:

And here's a kind of cool close up:

Now I want to make a pair of mittens, and maybe a hat (I don't wear hats) to go with it.  More projects!

I took the pieces for the class model for Beginning Finishing off of the blocking board, and took an "after" picture for you.  Compare it to the curly one from yesterday.  Which pieces would YOU rather sew together?

We moved two more comfy chairs into my (oops -- I mean OUR) sitting room (the old dining room).  It's much nicer.  I'm getting some flak about the television in the middle of the living room, but it actually looks exactly like I wanted it to, so I'm keeping it there for a while.  I've spent time sitting in all the different spots, and I find it all very comfortable.  I don't want the couch in the middle of the room, which is the other alternative.  I can't wait until class tonight, so I can see how the new layout works, student-seating-wise!

I'll be heading out to Pittsburgh on Wednesday.  They got my mom off the respirator yesterday, but she's still in intensive care.  My sisters have been helping my dad keep the home fires burning, and it's my turn now.  Have to start thinking about what knitting to take!

Sarah

Sunday, April 27, 2003

Apparently my tagboard has evolved into a voracious black hole, pulling my entire web page into its capacious, gaping maw (okay, I wrote that sentence in its entirety, and then I had to look up about half the words I used to make sure they really meant what I thought they meant.  They did!  Pretty impressive, huh?).  In other words, by getting rid of the tagboard, the double double page page went away. 

The tagboard is dead.  Long live the comments!

I spent more time trying to fix the double vision on my blog than knitting today.  I never did figure it out, but I learned more than I needed to know about HTML.  My webmaster/photographer/husband tinkered with it when he got home from his extended golf vacation this evening (thanks, honey!).  I did finish the last piece to the Beginning Finishing class model, though (mostly because I HAD to -- class is tomorrow night).  Here's what it looked like freshly knitted:

Don't you just love the curliness of stockinette stitch?  And no, the yarn isn't red.  It's magenta. 

On the left is the back, on the right are the two fronts, and on the bottom is a sleeve.  The other sleeve will be picked up and knitted from the shoulder down, after these pieces are sewn together.  We're learning two different methods for attaching sleeves in this class.  Can you see that one set of shoulder stitches is on holders, and the other set isn't?  We're also learning two different methods for seaming the shoulders. 

Here's what the same pieces look like freshly pinned to my wonderful new blocking board, using my beloved blocking wires, and freshly sprayed:

Look a little more user friendly now, don't they?  The sleeve has a rolled cuff, so that part isn't pinned, in case you were wondering.  Can you see my handprints on the sleeve?  After I sprayed it, I patted it into shape.  Didn't notice the handprints until I looked at the photo here.  Sometimes you can't see what's right in front of you, unless you see it through someone else's eyes.  When I was trying to figure out how to teach Continental knitting to people, I couldn't figure out how to break what I was doing down into individual steps.  Then one night we were driving back from somewhere and I was knitting by the light from the overhead maplight.  I caught sight of my reflection in the car window, and watched myself knitting.  It looked totally different to me, and I was able to see what I was doing in a way that I could put into words and tell my students.  Pretty cool.

Thanks to phone and e-mail messages from Sheila and Irene, who know I don't read the newspaper (who has the time?), I found out about a bead expo here in town, and went for an hour this afternoon.  It was kind of small, and my need for beads is kind of narrow, so most of what was available didn't apply to me.  But boy oh boy did I find some cool stuff that I can use for my beaded stitch markers!  Yee haw!  Totally different than what I had before.  I'll get them made up and on my website as soon as I can.  No peeking until then!

Glad my blog is back to normal again.  Feel free to use the comments -- the tagboard was kind of redundant anyway, I guess.  Now I just have to figure out how to access the old comments from the archived entries.  Hmm.  Needs more brain power than I currently possess.

Sarah

Saturday, April 26, 2003

I was a very bad girl today. 

I was sitting in my green chair, cat on my left, dog on my right, cruising along on my Lacy Alpaca Scarf and the last piece to my Beginning Finishing class model (can't work on just one project at a time), when all of a sudden I had an impulse so strong I couldn't resist it.  I ran downstairs to my yarn stash, pulled out a box of Berroco Cotton Twist, three hanks of Tahki Cotton Classic, and a hodgepodge of navy blues.  I ran back up to my green chair and promptly started three new projects.  None of which were on my "What I wish I was working on" list or my "What I should be working on" list.  All three of which are now on my "What I'm currently working on" list.

AAAAARRGGHHHH!!!!!

Culprit #1:

This is a sleeve to Sally's Favorite Summer Sweater from that book I'm knitting my way through (Sally Melville's The Knitting Experience: The Knit Stitch).  The yarn is Berroco Cotton Twist, which was a ribbed cardigan in a former life.  I don't remember why it isn't a ribbed cardigan anymore, but I'm really liking the way it's knitting up for this sweater.  See how the bottom part looks a little different?  That's because I steamed it, per Sally's instructions.  The pattern says to work three inches straight, measured after steaming, before starting the increases.  When the increases are done, I'll steam it again, then work straight to the desired length (measured after steaming, of course!). 

Culprit #2:

This is the Have Fun! Scarf from Sally's book.  The yarns include (clockwise from top left):  Berroco Smart Cotton, Needful Yarn's Modigliani, Manos del Uruguay, and Trendsetter Yarns Dolcino.  When the knitting is complete, the scarf is supposed to be pressed using a lot of steam.  Are we surprised?  That Sally sure likes to steam the bejesus out of her knitting (how do you spell "bejesus"?).  And remember the Minimum Scarf I made out of Touch Me yarn?  Machine washed and dried, despite the yarn label's warnings.

Culprit #3:

Dana's Scarf.  Not enough to photograph yet, but this will be a fringed scarf made out of Tahki Cotton Classic in a beautiful gold color, using a pattern I wrote for a customer.  It involves the use of Melissa Leapman's "automatic" fringe, which I should ask permission to use, I suppose.  I would like to put the pattern up on the Free Patterns page of my website, pending Melissa's approval.  Because not everyone golfs, but everyone does have a neck..

And speaking of Melissa, look what I got in the mail today:

Yippee!  I had totally forgotten that I ordered this when I attended her workshops a few weeks ago.  She signed it for me, with a P.S. that says, "I told you the sleeve/sweater length trick works!!!"  Apparently Ms. Leapman has been reading my blog.  Hi Melissa!

Did you notice that none of my new projects are red?  Am I out of my rut?

Did you notice that all of my new projects use stash yarn?  That's a plus.

Did I mention that I bought 20 skeins of Jamieson's Soft Shetland the other day?  That's a minus.

This knitting deficit of mine is definitely not moving in the right direction. 

Sarah

Friday, April 25, 2003

I'm blogging early today, because I have big plans for this evening which involve a good friend, a bottle of bubbly, and a DVD.  I figure I'd better post something now. 

Thanks for the good thoughts being sent my mom's way.  She's still on the ventilator/respirator thing, but her health is improving.   

I got my first floor rearranged the way I wanted to, but the knitting/sitting room isn't quite right.  I think if I can get some big strong man to move a few more pieces of furniture between floors, it will be closer to perfect. 

The front half of my first floor is one large room.  The front half of that large room has a vaulted ceiling, and the back half has a low ceiling.  The back half of my first floor is another big room, divided by a breakfast bar.  In the original plan, the front half of the front room (with the high ceiling) was called the living room, the back half of the front room (with the low ceiling) was called the dining room, and the half of the back room that isn't kitchen was called "country kitchen".  That means that three quarters of the first floor were supposed to be devoted to food.  That seemed silly to us, and we chose to have the whole front room be the living room, and we put the dining room table in the back, next to the kitchen. 

That was fifteen years ago, and I'm getting bored.  I'm also tired of the television, since I refuse to watch reality shows (including the news).

I suddenly had the idea pop into my head that the seating area should be centered around the fireplace (been reading too many magazines), so I decided to try it.  The fireplace is in the front half of the front room, so now the t.v. and the couch and a chair are cozily arranged around it. 

I think this is the cleanest my house will ever be, since we haven't had enough time to mess it up since its facelift, so here are some photos.  The first is from the middle of the house, looking out to the front windows (the front door is on the right):

In the corner of shame is our fancy schmancy television that we're tired of having repaired.  It's on its way out.  And there's Keiko, the Wonder Dog!    And the afghan I knit out of Plymouth Encore, that's holding up very well.  The piano is against the stair wall on the right.  And from the front door:

The dining room table has been moved to the front room under the low ceiling.  This is where my home-based classes will be held now.  Lots more room!  The next step is to take everything off of the walls, retire some of the older pieces, and re-hang our favorites in better locations.  The wide, colorful artwork behind the television will go on the long wall over the dining room table, for example, where sunglass-lady currently resides (my sons think that's me -- who am I to tell them different?).  I would love to knit a giant piece to hang over the fireplace, but when will I ever have the time?

I have a lot of houseplants, and I've been able to use them to round out corners and to mask electrical cords (although the cords still need some work). 

The area next to the kitchen (that used to be the dining room) will be my new sitting/knitting room.  Here's my chair, surrounded by some knitting, and a little peek at my patio.  Do you recognize the carpet?  It's the background for most of my blog photos.

And panning to the right, almost to the breakfast bar (standing in the doorway between the front and back rooms):

There's Sheila, who models most of the garments for my website photos.  She's on loan from my friend Sheila (hence the name -- aren't I clever?).  In the foreground, you can see Mary Tudor and Tokyo, waiting patiently for some attention.  I picked up the charcoal wool for Tokyo yesterday!  On the left, you can see the pillow from my Beginning Knitting class, and the overstuffed notebook holding my class notes (if I ever lose that, I'm royally screwed).  Can you see the cheesy blue swingset out the window?  That's coming down this year. 

Has anyone noticed that there's only one chair in this room?  Very limited seating in my new sitting room!  We need to bring the other big comfy chair up from the basement, but I'm not sure where we'll put it.  Probably where Sheila is standing, and move the plant shelves over in front of the window between the two chairs, and move the light colored table down to the basement.  If I get rid of the table, will the piles of paper go away?     

I'm refusing to pan further to the right, or you'd see my messy kitchen.  And the opposite side of this room is where I'm sitting, at a desk with the computer, next to a table holding my workhorse -- a huge printer/scanner/copier/fax machine.

Thanks for stopping by -- hope you enjoyed your visit!  Picture me walking over to that green chair and sitting down for a long session of knitting!

Sarah

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

When I used to have a real job, I mean one where I had to drive to work every morning, I used to wish I could call in "sleepy" -- you know, like calling in sick.  That's what I did last night, instead of posting an entry here.  I called in sleepy.  Hmm.  Maybe I could call in Sleepy, the vertically challenged friend of Snow White, and have him ghost write an entry for me.  Then I could call in sleepy AND Sleepy. 

Sorry, I'm a little loopy (Dopey?).  My day didn't go as planned, and I get all out of whack when things don't go the way I expect them to (Grumpy!).

The good news is that

• I'm a few ridges away from completing the hood on Baby Albert: The Sequel.  If I get it done tonight, I'll edit this entry and post a picture.  Otherwise, I'll post a picture tomorrow. 
• I've got two fronts and a sleeve done for the class model for my Beginning Finishing class.  Just need to knit the back (the other sleeve won't be worked until the last class session).  I'll take a picture of the pieces when they're all on the blocking board.  Maybe tomorrow?
• I got a few more repeats done on my Lacy Alpaca Scarf.  I had been putting off this project because I didn't like the level of difficulty of the pattern I was writing, but I made a few changes to the stitch pattern, and now it's much simpler to work, and pretty easy to memorize.  Hooray!
• Best of all, we borrowed the neighbor and moved the rest of the big pieces of furniture around between the first floor rooms, so my knitting room -- oops!  I mean SITTING room -- is closer to a reality (Happy!).  We can't afford to remodel the house, so we're just rearranging the rooms.  I'll play around with the smaller pieces tomorrow and see what I can come up with configuration-wise.  The knit-in-ers and my students will be surprised.  Pleasantly, I hope.

The bad news is that

• I haven't started the sock for my Basic Socks class that's on Friday, although the swatch is done.
• I haven't started working on the class model and notes for the Toe Up Sock class that starts in mid-May.  I had planned to devote Tuesday morning to that project, since I had a big chunk of time open.  I started rearranging furniture instead.
• I haven't received the charcoal wool for Tokyo's button loop yet.
• My cat ate yet another sweater (I haven't mentioned her tendency to snack on knitted fabric -- not just on balls of yarn like a normal cat), but fortunately it was just a little sweater for a bear.
• Worst of all, my mom went to the doctor yesterday with a bad cold (Sneezy?), was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia (by Doc?), moved to intensive care this morning, and is now on a ventilator, or whatever it's called -- intubated.  This happened once before, a little over two years ago, with a happy outcome, so we're hoping everything works out the same this time. 

Words of wisdom:  If you smoke, quit now.  Spend the money on yarn instead.

Update:  Here's the finished, hooded Baby Albert:

I couldn't figure out how to photograph the hood attractively, so I went for the shy look (Bashful!).

Sarah

Monday, April 21, 2003

I have nothing planned for tomorrow until the Tuesday evening knit-in, so I hope to buckle down and get some significant amounts of knitting done. 

I started the hood for the Baby Albert.  I think it will work out just fine.  I also started a couple of other projects.  I'm going to knit along with my Basic Socks students and my Beginning Finishing students.  I need some more class models, since I'm working out of multiple locations now.  The class models really help to "sell" the classes.

I'm also making good progress on the Lacy Alpaca Scarf.  Here's what it looks like so far:

Oh look!  It's red!  (Big surprise)

My webmaster/photographer/husband updated the Student Gallery of my website tonight, although he still has a few more photos to add.  SweaterGirl's purple sweater is finally there, with its delicate crocheted edging.  It's amazing to see the variations that my students are adding to their projects.  All four of the adult sweaters that are posted there so far are from the same class, but look at all the different necklines, sleeve lengths, and edgings that each student chose.  Cool!  And they all fit!

A new Beginning Finishing class started tonight.  Nine women smooshed around my dining room table, which seats six comfortably.  They were good sports about the close quarters, and asked if I was going to blog about them.  Of course!  Hi Daphne, Karen, Laura, Diane D., Pennie, Krista, Diane R., Sharon, and Kay!  And hi to Jean, who would have been here but she was on the lookout for a new grandchild.  Get knitting, ladies!  You've got lots of homework!  They don't call me the evil taskmaster for nothing!

One of my students did actually call me "the evil taskmaster" once.  I think it was said with affection, though.

Sarah

Sunday, April 20, 2003

As promised, here's the Baby Albert coat, in all its garter stitch glory:

It still needs to be washed and blocked, but that's just a minor detail.  There's always something more to do, isn't there?  I've got three balls of this yarn left, and would like to make a little hat to match.  Actually, the pattern is for a coat/bunting, and has an optional hood, but the hood directions say "bunting only".  That sounds like a rule I could break.  Okay, so maybe I'm not done with the Baby Albert yet.  I'll have to think about it.

Here's a partial picture of the finished Tokyo jacket:

Gorgeous, isn't it?  I bought the kit for myself for my birthday last year (late May), so it took slightly less than a year to make (although it's not finished yet!).  Needs to be washed and blocked, which will get rid of the bump where the sleeve attaches to the body.  I hope to receive a spare ball of the charcoal wool in the next day or so, for the button loop.  The button is eager to be sewn on -- it jumps out of the basket every time I pull the sweater out.  I tried Tokyo on last night.  It looked...dare I say it?...awful.

That's right.  I looked like a frump.  Drop shoulders are easy to make, but not the most flattering of styles.  So once again, I went to bed feeling like a knitting loser. 

I had seen this sweater in person a number of years ago, hanging from a rod in a store, with the sleeves sticking straight out.  It looked stunning, and I fell in love with it.  It's ME.  The kit was very expensive though (like, $250, give or take $5).  I thought about it for a long time, and on my birthday a year or so later I walked into my LYS with two full yarn cards (worth $25 each), $100 in birthday money, and a credit card, and walked out with my little clear plastic bag of yarn with the poorly xeroxed directions (there WAS a color photograph of the finished sweater, and a "Hanne Falkenberg" label, so THAT must be what made it cost so much). 

I posted about this in March, but it's worth repeating, I think:  I ran out of yarn.  $250 for the kit, and there wasn't enough yarn to finish the sweater.  Here's what I said in March:

"I only have about five inches left on the last Tokyo sleeve, but ran out of the charcoal colored wool.  This is at least the second time this has happened to me.  I have to stop buying kits.  I'm making the length of the largest size, but the width of the smallest size, so I should have had plenty.  And I'm on gauge.  But get this:  My LYS owner called Swedish Yarn Imports, the U.S. distributor of Hanne Falkenberg kits, to see about getting an extra skein of wool.  They informed her that it was MY fault that I ran out of yarn -- that there had been plenty in the kit, so "the knitter" (me!) must have lost a skein.  End of story.  EXCUSE ME?  What happened to "the customer is always right?"  All I want is one lousy skein of yarn.  Fortunately, my LYS owner came up with a small ball of the charcoal wool out of her own stash."

Sorry to repeat old material, but it still ticks me off.  To make a long story short (oops -- too late!), I was given enough to finish the sweater (but not the button loop), sewed it together, tried it on...and could have cried at how it looked.  My theory last night was that the inch wide stripe of charcoal at the top of the sleeve accentuates the dropped shoulder, drawing your eye to the part of the sweater that looks like it doesn't fit.  Today, at my husband's request, I tried it on again, but this time over normal clothes instead of my fuzzy grey pajamas.  Amazingly, it looked much better, although still kind of poofy at the "shoulder" (which is practically an "elbow").  I'm sure that blocking will fix the poofiness (another one of my technical terms -- you may borrow it if you wish).

So it's not as bad as I thought after all, and with exactly the right clothing underneath, will look quite nice.  So I'm happy again.

Unless it grows when I block it.  I didn't block my swatch, like every knitter is always supposed to do, but rarely does.  Why am I worried about this?  Remember my Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper?  Guess what.  After finishing it multiple times to get just the right length in the sleeves and body, I wore it a few times and then washed and blocked it.  And it grew.  Not much, but enough that it now is too long in the sleeves and body.  But they still line up with each other, for whatever that's worth.  I'll try it on again when I'm not mad at it anymore, and maybe it won't be quite as bad as I thought.  If it is, I'll just tear it back a little way.  Again.

I still want to pursue my questions from Friday night regarding giving/receiving knitted gifts to/from other knitters.  Not tonight, though.  I feel a knitting binge coming on.  I've started the Lacy Alpaca Scarf, and am feeling inspired to finish Mary Tudor.  If anyone else would care to comment on the subject, though, I would appreciate hearing some more points of view. 

Any opinions or comments are always welcome here. 

Thanks!  

Sarah

Saturday, April 19, 2003

Just a quickie tonight, because I have a very important job to do before I go to bed.

Progress report:  Are you ready?  You might want to sit down.  Or hold onto your hat.  Or hold your breath. 

Here it is:  All tails have been woven in on Baby Albert and Tokyo.  You heard me right.  Can you believe it?  I need to sew the buttons on both sweaters, and I'm waiting for delivery of an extra bit of the charcoal wool for Tokyo so I can make some kind of a button loop, but other than those minor details, they're both DONE.

Whew!

Look at these buttons I found for the Baby Albert sweater today:

They couldn't be any more perfect!  In case you've forgotten what Little Al looks like, I'll post a photo tomorrow of the finished product (or you could check the Archives -- the latest pictures were only a week ago!).

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to put on my long ears and my fluffy tail and go fill some Easter baskets.

Sarah

Friday, April 18, 2003

Sweatergirl blogged today about the challenge of knitting a baby sweater as a gift for a mom-to-be who is an accomplished knitter.  I commented to her that it really IS the thought that counts, and that another knitter will definitely understand and greatly appreciate the thought and effort that goes into a handknit gift. 

I rarely receive handknit items as gifts.  I've often wondered about that.  Do people think I'll be critical?  Do they figure I could knit the item myself so they're not even going to try?  Do they think I'll compare their work to my own?  Maybe, maybe, and maybe. 

I admired a tea cosy that LynnH knit and then displayed on her blog a few months ago, and I asked her if the pattern was available (I begged for it, actually).  Instead of letting me know how I could get the pattern, LynnH responded by giving me the actual cosy!  Here it is (I stole the photo from LynnH's archives):

Isn't it gorgeous?  What a special gift, even if it wasn't originally intended for me!  It makes me happy every time I look at it, knowing that someone else knit it and then thought that I would appreciate it.  I do!  I do!

Do I make handknit gifts for other knitters?  Absolutely.  Baby Albert is the most recent example.  The only thing I worried about was the color, so I flat out asked the mom-to-be if that color would be good for a "hypothetical" gift for her baby.  The answer was yes!  Now it won't be a surprise that I'm knitting for her new baby, but she'll still get to wonder what it will look like.  And maybe the wondering (if she wonders at all) is part of the gift, too ("I know Sarah's making something for my little baby -- I wonder what it will be?").  I've enjoyed working on the sweater (even when I decided to re-do the buttonholes), and I've been thinking about the recipient a lot, which is a good thing.  That makes it a gift for me, too!

What do you think about a) knitting gifts for other knitters, and b) receiving knitted gifts from other knitters)?

And more importantly, c) is it "cosy" or "cozy"?

Sarah

Thursday, April 17, 2003

Sigh.  No knitting again, but my house is clean and we're having a lovely visit with my sister and her husband.  Here's what I worked the hardest on today:

See that, Rob?  Who needs Roma Bakery when you have Sarah's Kitchen?  There's a whipped creamy lemon layer underneath the gooey lemon layer, covered with lemon zest and surrounded by lemon slices.  Kind of lemony.  There's over a tub of whipped cream in and on this baby -- that's my kind of dessert!  The recipe is in this cookbook.  I also roasted a chicken and made oriental slaw (thanks for the recipe, Kris!), oatmeal and sesame bread (my fave), and pistachio bread (from a very vague recipe, and it worked out great!), and I made the apple berry salsa and cinnamon chips from Sweatergirl's Pampered Chef party for an appetizer (see her entry from Tuesday, April 15 for the recipe).

Here's the pistachio bread recipe, with the vague parts removed (the original didn't specify box sizes or baking time):

Mix together:

1 box yellow cake mix (I used a 9 oz. Jiffy mix)

4 beaten eggs

1/4 cup oil (I used safflower)

1 pkg pistachio pudding (I used a 3.5 oz. pkg of instant, since that's all I could find)

1 cup sour cream

Mix together:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pistachios!)

2-3 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Pour 1/2 of first (bread) mixture into bread pan.

2.  Sprinkle 1/2 of second (sugar) mixture over top.

3.  Add remaining bread mixture.

4.  Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture on top and work it in so it won't come off when bread is turned out.

5.  Bake at 350 for 60-65 minutes (until it passes the toothpick test).

Yummy!  It'll be green, so don't be alarmed.

Tomorrow I teach a double shift -- two hours of Beginning Knitting immediately followed by two hours of Basic Socks.  I've decided to change my Beginning Knitting class so it doesn't involve as much seaming.  The class that starts tomorrow will be the last one using this pillow cover (since that's the project they signed up for):

The front consists of sixteen squares.  The back consists of eight rectangles. 

As near as I can figure, there are 36 seams holding it all together.  I think that's excessive.  And a lot of those seams are between pieces with different row counts.  Not the ideal beginner project -- more of an intermediate level.  I've been trying to figure out what to do differently, and I've got it narrowed down to two options:

Option Number One:  Work back and forth with horizontal stripes of each stitch pattern, then just sew the side seams and you're done.  I would try to match the row counts of the stripes that will end up touching on the sides, to keep it simple. 

Option Number Two:  Work circularly with horizontal stripes, button the top shut and the bottom shut, and you're done.  No seams.  I like this option best. 

Seaming is covered in my Beginning Finishing class, so I don't feel too bad about leaving it out of my Beginning Knitting class, which covers a LOT of other topics (see the class description).

Any opinions or other ideas?

Thanks to Penny and Chris for commenting about my pop quiz!  I would like to take back my sarcastic comments from yesterday, if you don't mind!

Forecast for tomorrow:  Busy throughout the morning and early afternoon, with the schedule clearing by evening.  Seventy-five percent chance of knitting late in the day.

Sarah

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

I've lived in Michigan since 1979, and I still can't get used to the weather.  Five inches of snow a week ago.  Mid 80s yesterday.  Low 40s today. 

My parents (who live in Pennsylvania, where I grew up) report that they get the same weather I do, a day later.  I don't remember any of these erratic temperature changes happening when I lived there, however.  I distinctly remember cold winters, hot summers, and mild, rainy springs and falls (That sounds like a good place to visit:  Springs and Falls National Park.  Or is it a poorly performed track and field event?  "She springs and falls on her long jump attempt."  But I digress). 

Perhaps the fault isn't with Michigan (although Michiganders are always quick to acknowledge it.  "It's the lake effect," they say).  Perhaps it's the ozone layer, and global warming, and the greenhouse effect, and maybe a little bit of El Niño thrown in (remember when everything was blamed on El Niño?).

Hmm.  All I know for sure is that I was roasting yesterday with all the windows and doors open, and today I'm huddled under a blanket wearing my flannel-lined jeans.

Oh -- knitting.  I haven't done any today.  Session 2 of my Seamless Sweater class was this morning -- we were up to our armpits, quite literally.  I did make a lot of progress on getting the house presentable for my sister's visit tomorrow.  That's a good thing.  The lack of knitting, though -- that's a bad thing.  Maybe I'll page through a knitting book before I go to bed, and try to jump start some knitting dreams.  I've been wanting to look through Jean Moss's Sculptured Knits again.  I think I'll go do that. 

I was underwhelmed with the responses to yesterday's pop quiz (there were exactly zero).  The answer was "blue".  We know this because a) the blue stitches are bigger than the orange stitches, b) in Monday's entry, I mentioned that the yarn that's carried below the other yarn becomes the dominant color, and c) I also mentioned that the way I knit, my left hand yarn is the bottom yarn.  Thanks for playing along (she says sarcastically).

Time for bed.  Where's my Sculptured Knits book?  Ah, there it is.  Sweet dreams!

Sarah

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Well that was weird -- yesterday my comments weren't working.  Today my whole blog was out of commission for a couple of hours (as was my "work" website -- server problems?), and when it finally came back, the tagboard was down.  What's going on?  Solar flares?  We had our own solar flares going on right here in Michigan.  Mid 80s today, just a week after a big snowstorm.  And a billion mile an hour winds, which freaked Keiko out.  She glued herself to my leg for the day. 

Not this little girl, though:

She's no scaredy cat.  Yeah, I chopped her tail off, but at least she wasn't cleaning herself for this photo.

I think my demo for the guild went well tonight.  As usual, I plan what I'm going to say, then get in front of everybody and totally forget everything.  Fortunately I had notes printed up to distribute, so I just kept referring to those.  Unfortunately, I only had half as many printed up as there were people in attendance.  Big turnout tonight!  Probably close to forty people!  There were some great questions asked, and they applauded at the end!

Here's the last sample I made:

It shows what happens when you strand too tightly across the back -- see how bunched up it is in the middle?  That's the "don't" section. 

And I used my giant i-cord yarn and my giant needles, like a true professional:

I've finally learned to put something recognizable in for size comparisons.  My dad is a retired geologist, and we have endless (but fascinating, Daddy, really!) slides of rock formations with a pickax thrown in.  My pickax was downstairs, so I used a pen.  Look at those giant stitches!  Pop quiz, to see if anyone was paying attention yesterday:  which color did I carry in my left hand, the orange or the blue?  You need to look at two different paragraphs from yesterday to come up with the answer.  This should help:

Any takers?  Come on, you have a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right!  I want to hear reasons, though, to prove you did your homework.  The very top row was worked using the "intarsia" technique of twisting the yarns around each other after each color change.  Not a recommended Fair Isle technique, unless you want to drive yourself nuts with tangled yarn balls (since there's a whole lotta twistin' goin' on) (hey, that's two different songs!).  I just wanted to show my audience the difference.

And hey -- check out my buddy Tracy A.'s cool new blog:  Is it a bird?  A plane?  No! It's Sweatergirl!

Sarah

Monday, April 14, 2003

My comments seem to have vanished for the time being.  When I try to access the website for backBlog, it says "The page cannot be found".  Bummer.

I re-finished the Shape It! Scarf, and just need to weave in the ends (all four of them).

Haven't shaved my Fuzzy Feet yet, but wore them most of the day, until the temperature got into the 80s, and then they had to come off.

I used my i-cord maker and a skein of blue acrylic yarn to make a ball of thick blue yarn to go with my ball of thick orange yarn, to use for a demo I'm doing tomorrow night on Fair Isle knitting.  I also made this for a sample:

It's not blocked yet, because I refuse to get the ironing board out this late. 

This sample shows what happens if you switch which yarn is carried above and which yarn is carried below.  See the difference between the top half and the bottom half?  On the bottom half, the coral colored yarn was carried underneath the charcoal colored yarn.  On the top half, the charcoal yarn was carried underneath the coral yarn.  Makes a difference, doesn't it?  The color that's carried below the other yarn becomes the dominant color. 

Here's the back, where you can see an even greater difference:

Yes, I'll block it before the guild meeting so it will be square and will lay flat. 

Here's the other sample I made today:

Doesn't look like much, but I'm trying to show what happens when you catch the yarn at the back of the work.  Here's the back, so you'll understand better:

On the bottom third, I didn't catch the yarn at all.  Those are seven strand floats, on worsted weight wool.  Too long.  On the middle third, I caught the yarn in alternating spots.  That part looks the messiest from the front, but is the best option here (but look two paragraphs down).  On the top third, I caught in the same place on each row.  This formed a vertical ridge on the right side of the fabric, which you can't see in the photo, but it's very textural (is that a word?).

I still need a third sample, showing what happens when your stitches aren't spread out enough as you're carrying the second color (puckers!), and showing the difference in appearance (on the back only) if you work the color changes like you do for intarsia -- always picking one yarn up from underneath the other yarn.  The carries will look like little diagonal swoopies instead of horizontal lines.  Swoopies is a technical term which I use a lot.  Feel free to borrow it.

I learned something new tonight during all this sampling.  When working Fair Isle flat (knitting across and purling back), at least the way I knit (two handed Fair Isle), you do have to change which hands hold which colors on the different rows.  On knit rows, my left hand yarn is the bottom yarn.  On purl rows, my left hand yarn becomes the top yarn.  The catching looks different between the knit and purl rows, too.  I'm thinking of reworking the second swatch in the round so all the rows are knit rows.  I started cutting the yarn after each row on the last third of this sample so I could knit across each row.  I wish I had done it from the start.  Then maybe that middle section would have  looked more even on the front side.

I'm falling asleep.  I'll let you know how my demo goes.

Sarah

Sunday, April 13, 2003

Here's the lovely Mica...wait a minute.  What is she doing?  Mica!  That's not very ladylike!

Spring Break is drawing to a close.  How did I do on my goals?

Goal Number One (from last Sunday):  I should EASILY be able to finish the Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper, Tokyo, and the secret baby shower gift.  I'm thinking I could also finish Mary Tudor if I put my mind to it.  What else is on the list over there?  Oh yeah.  Maybe I'll get brave and throw my Fuzzy Feet in the washer.  And I just read through SWAK's Intarsia Workshop today, and am inspired to pick up Sicily again. 

Goal Number One (as of 10:00 p.m. today):  I finished the Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper (and if I make it again, I will call it the Funnel Neck Sweater, to avoid all those hyphens).  I didn't touch Tokyo, but I still have a couple of hours to start weaving in ends (although I probably won't).  The no-longer-secret baby shower gift (Baby Albert) is done, except for weaving in ends (which ain't happenin' tonight)  and sewing on buttons (which I ain't got).  Mary Tudor?  Didn't look at it.  Sicily?  Untouched.  Fuzzy Feet?  Very fuzzy!  Take a look:

They're wet and they need a shave, but they're done!  Can somebody tell me why they're covered with blue fuzz?  I washed them with some very old jeans that I've been saving in case I ever learn how to quilt.  My first ever felting attempt was a bag which also ended up covered in blue fuzz, but I was dumb enough to wash it with royal blue towels.  Oh well, that's what the sweater comb is for! 

Goal Number Two (from last Sunday):  I also want to sort through my yarn stash and look at the projects that are marinating in the bottom of the closet(s).  Then I can update the lists on the right-hand side of my blog and REALLY come clean.

Goal Number Two (as of 10:00 p.m. today):  Done!

Goal Number Three (from last Sunday):  It would be really nice if I would just sit down and write some of the patterns people are waiting for.

Goal Number Three (as of 10:00 p.m. today):  Would have been really nice if I had just sat down and written some of the patterns people are waiting for, but I didn't do it.

Summary:  Umm, I think I did pretty well, although I only accomplished half of my goals.  Half of three?  Well, Goal Number One actually consisted of six items (Goals 1A through 1F?), so I guess I finished four out of eight.  And I'm mad at myself for not finishing Tokyo, because that would only have taken an hour or two!

Here's what I have to start working on tonight:

See the ball of giant orange yarn?  I need to make another one out of blue, using the magic i-cord maker.  I'm presenting the program at the guild meeting on Tuesday night.  The topic is carrying your yarns for Fair Isle knitting (stranding), and I want to have some giant yarn in contrasting colors for a demo.  It will be nice to have for demos for other classes, too, now that I think of it. 

So off I go to crank out some idiot cord.  In my wet Fuzzy Feet.  What an exciting life I lead!  

Sarah

Saturday, April 12, 2003

First I want to clarify something I said yesterday.  When I said that the Knitting Pure and Simple patterns are SO wonderfully written, I wasn't being sarcastic.  They ARE wonderfully written, and they ARE simple.  I've made a top down pullover and a top down cardigan from their patterns, and would like to make others from their collection.  The puckery rolled edge I tore out yesterday was a result of my erroneous knitting, not any fault of the pattern.

Sometimes I'm too literal, I think, but I wanted to make that clear.  I highly recommend their patterns. 

I didn't make as much progress as I would have liked, but here are the re-worked buttonholes from the Baby Albert:

Can you see them this time?  Me, too.  They're still very tiny -- I shoved my finger through the buttonholes before I took the photo, so they'd show up.

I'll finish the body section that I had to tear out, and then I have one more sleeve to go.  And I'll work on re-finishing the Shape It! Scarf tonight, too. 

I made pizza (from scratch!) for supper, and I just took some brownies out of the oven (see, Tracy?  You're a bad influence!).  I reorganized my pantry, sorted my beads (how boring is that?) and started thinking about how to rearrange everything on the first floor so I end up with a nice knitting studio.  See?  I was somewhat productive today.

I'd better finish Tokyo and my Fuzzy Feet tomorrow, since Sunday is the last day of Spring Break!  Gotta stick to those goals!

But first...I'm off to test the brownies!

Sarah

Friday, April 11, 2003

Today was a "three steps forward, five steps back" kind of day, knitting-wise.  The good news is that while I was unraveling a sweater body, two sleeves, a scarf and a section of my Baby Albert sweater, I managed to read through about half of the stack of magazines I've gotten behind on (or rather, "on which I've gotten behind", although that sounds just as bad in this case).

Here's the damage assessment:  I tore out the puckery rolled edge on the top down sweater from yesterday (it's a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern -- they're SO wonderfully written), and re-knit it with a larger needle.  It looks great.  I decided the sleeves were a smidge too long as well, so I tore each of those back a couple of inches and re-knit the rolled edge cuffs.  Here's the (re)finished product:

Aren't my sweaters friendly?  They're always waving.

Oh!  I just turned around and look what I found:

Keiko -- what a silly dog!  She grew up around cats -- can you tell?

I also decided that I had to tear my Shape It! Scarf back a ways to make it a little shorter.  It's been bugging me, so I'm going to quiet that little nagging voice once and for all.  The scarf is back on a needle, ready for the last set of cast ons.  I'm going to cast on about 18 stitches fewer per side tonight and then knit away while keeping my snoozing husband company on the couch.

And finally, after talking to Rob at ThreadBear last night, I decided to rip back the last body section of my Baby Albert, as well as part of the lower body piece, because I wasn't happy with the buttonholes.  Sally Melville calls for a "k2tog, yo" buttonhole.  Don't get me wrong, that's my all time favorite way to work buttonholes.  The problem is that Sally directs you to knit the yarnover through the back loop on the next row, which twists that yarnover shut.  This results in a buttonhole so tiny that it's next to impossible to find.  Do you see any buttonholes on that left edge?

No, not those -- those are the safety pins I use to count my rows.  Try this angle -- see anything along what is now the top edge?

Me neither, but there are two buttonholes in there somewhere.  I'm going to re-work them without the twist, hopefully before I go to bed tonight, so I can move on to something "new" tomorrow.  I'd better get going!

Oh, and I have comments now.  Yippee!  Leave me one!

Sarah

Thursday, April 10, 2003

Tracy A. asked (and I quote):  so - was melissa right? i mean, do you think it made a difference to change it so that the sleeves and the body were the same length?

The short answer:  Yes!

The long answer:  I was taught that the LEAST flattering place for a sweater hem is across the widest part of your body (unless your bust is the widest part -- that would be a whole different look entirely), which on most people would be their hips.  The MOST flattering place for a sweater hem, therefore, is either above the hip or below the hip, and that's what I have practiced and taught for years, although my interpretation of "below the hip" has been closer to "below the rear end".  When Melissa Leapman said (in her workshop last weekend) that the cuff edge should line up with the hem, I argued with her (ballsy woman that I am) and said that would fall right across my hip.  She disagreed.  When I tried on my freshly finished Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper last night, the hem fell just above my hip, just like I had planned.  It looked fine, but those little wheels in my brain were turning.  I immediately tore out the bound off edge and added a couple more inches to the body.  Since it was going on 2 a.m. at that point, I didn't sew the little side seams, and as a result, the 2 inch side slits were now 4 inch side slits (you can sort of see that in the photo from last night).  I tried the sweater on, and, well, what with those 4 inch slits gaping open, it looked like my rear end was barely able to fit inside the sweater.  Not attractive.  I went to bed.  Then Tracy A. asked her question on my tagboard today.  I didn't know how to answer, since all I could think of was my  bottom spewing out from the sides of my sweater.  So I sewed the little side seams -- now I'm back to 2 inch side slits.  I put the sweater on.  I looked in the mirror.  I turned for the side view.  No spewing.  No gaping side slits.  The sweater falls just slightly below my hip, and the cuffs line up perfectly with the hem.  It looks quite wonderful, actually, so I wore the sweater to Tracy A.'s house tonight for her Pampered Chef party, to see what she thought (e-mail Tracy A. if you need something -- she'll take orders until next Thursday!).  And quite frankly, I can't remember what her reaction was.  But I ordered one of those new cherry/olive pitters.  Sorry, that was a long way to go to get to a pointless ending.

Told you that was the long answer.

To continue the experiment, I grabbed another sweater that I had knit from the top down, that came almost to my knees (taking the "below the hip" theory to a bit of an extreme).  I undid the bound off edge and about eight inches of sweater body, knit a new six-rows-on-a-smaller-needle rolled edge, and bound off.  Since I didn't have any notes from when I made the sweater originally, I guessed as to what the smaller needle size would be (yes, Terri, I know, I should have written it down.  Do as I say, not as I do!).  I apparently guessed wrong, because the new rolled edge is puckery and pulls in.  Blech.  So tomorrow I'll re-knit those six rows yet again, on a bigger needle.  I'll let you know how it goes.

I think the point of my story(ies) is that Melissa was right, but I wasn't exactly wrong -- Melissa just gave me a better target to shoot for.  Does that make sense?

Here's what I got at Woven Art today: 

Isn't it pretty?  This yarn is a merino silk blend, brilliantly handspun by my good friend Jacquie Vaughan.  Here's a closer view:

Phew!  It took me a while to get that in focus.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Jacquie is an incredibly talented fiber artist.  I'm very honored to know her.  And I have no idea what to do with this little 2 oz. hank.  I'm picturing a collar on a plain cardigan, but I'm not sure I even have enough for that.  Hey!  If I don't know what it's going to be, I don't have to add it to my project list!  Cool!

And here's big news (for me, anyway).  I'll be teaching at Woven Art starting in June.  That means I'll be teaching in three different locations!  I'm global!  Well, not quite, but it's exciting, anyway.  Who knew, when I started my little business in January, that it would do so well?  Not me.

I've got to go put olives on the shopping list so I'm ready when my Pampered Chef order comes in.

Sarah

Wednesday, April 9, 2003

I finished my Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper today.  Hooray!  I wove those last ends in, then tried it on.  It fits perfectly.  Yippee!  But as I was standing in front of the mirror, out popped a little Melissa Leapman, who sat on my shoulder and said "You know, Sarah, for that sweater to look its best, the body and the sleeves should end at the same spot."  I couldn't tell whether the little Melissa Leapman was wearing a halo or horns, but I knew she meant well, and I knew she was right, so I took her advice.  Fortunately for everyone concerned (me, Melissa, Sally), this sweater was knit from the top down (hence the "Knit-Down" of the title), and all I had to do was undo my bound off edge and an inch of knitting that was worked on smaller needles.  The sweater has slits on the bottom, so I didn't have to undo any seams.  I worked two inches on the regular size needles, then the last inch on the smaller needles, bound off, sewed a small seam on each side, wove in a couple more ends, and voila!  Or, as I like to say, vi-oh-la!

Thanks Sally!  Thanks Melissa!

I'm finally getting a little tired of garter stitch, but still have the secret baby shower gift (garter stitch) and Tokyo (slipped stitches and garter stitch) to finish up.  What will I allow myself to do next?  Finish another project, or start a new one?  Keep reading. 

As promised, I worked on Goal Number Two this afternoon (see Sunday's entry), which involved taking an inventory of my knitting projects.  I don't do this too often, as I'm never quite sure how to react to my own stash.  I find wonderful things I had forgotten about.  I also find things that aren't as wonderful as I remember.  I get inspired by all the textures and colors, and start to plan what I want to work on next.  I also see exactly how many projects I have waiting, both on the needles and off, and start to feel overwhelmed/embarrassed/guilty/stressed/behind. 

Here are the categories:

What I'm currently working on (on the needles)

What I wish I was working on (not on the needles)

What I should be working on (on or off the needles, these are projects that will bring in money, or that someone is waiting patiently for me to complete)

Hmm.  Should those categories only include projects I currently have the yarn for?  I think so.  What about the patterns and class notes I'm supposed to be writing?  Those should probably be listed.  I'll leave out yarn from my stash that hasn't yet figured out what it wants to be, even if it's screaming my name.  And I think it would be best to ignore all the things I want to make that I don't yet have yarn for -- 'cause that list would go on forever.

So I added everything to my lists on the right.  Geez!  I'd better get knitting!  And what should I do next?  Well, Goal Number One isn't done yet, so that's where I'll start.  Then what?  I don't dare start anything new, although I should work on the design and notes for the Toe-Up Socks, since I'm teaching that class in May.  And I think I'll pick up Sicily again.  Here's a picture of what I've accomplished so far on that knitting-for-hire project:

Ack!  Intarsia!  I'll be begging for garter stitch in a day or two.

Did I mention that I'm going yarn shopping tomorrow?

Sarah

Tuesday, April 8, 2003

Did you miss me?  I ran away from home yesterday.  Grabbed the kids and drove to my father-in-law's house to spend the night with him and his wife (technically my step-mother-in-law, but that phrase sounds evil, so I don't use it.  And "him and his wife" doesn't sound grammatically correct, but I think it's right.  And yes, I know I'm not supposed to start a sentence with "And", but I claim creative license).

Yup, left the husband to fend for himself (he had to work), and high-tailed it out of town.  Right in the middle of another lovely Springtime snowstorm we're so fond of here in Michigan.  I was greeted at the door with hot tea, and was kept warm and cozy and well-fed until it was time to come home. 

Here's what was happening at my father-in-law's:

You can see the snow falling, and the juncos landing at the giant feeder my father-in-law built (they didn't want the birds to starve while they were on vacation).  Look at this picture from a minute or two later:

Oh, shoot.  It's hard to see when it's this little, but there's a cardinal in the tree on the right, and one of those rufous sided towhees in the tree on the left.  Looks like another junco in the middle.  I'd never seen one of those towhee things before -- very cool.  We also saw chickadees, titmice, sparrows (generic and fox), blue jays, goldfinches, red winged blackbirds, mourning doves, brown headed cowbirds, a giant squirrel, a rabbit, a cat, and three deer.  And a few somethings with huge wingspans were circling overhead, but I don't know what they were (besides hungry!).

Where's the knitting, you ask?  Well, when I wasn't trying to take pictures without scaring the birds, I was knitting furiously.  I finished the last sleeve of my Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper.  I just have to sew one more sleeve seam and then weave in a few dozen ends (my favorite part -- NOT!).  I got another section of my secret baby shower gift done (Charlotte guessed correctly that it's a Baby Albert -- good job!) and started on the last body section.  And I sewed a zipper into a hooded baby sweater for a customer -- that's a new skill for me!  I told her I had never done it before, and she said "better you than me!"

Tonight was our guild's weekly knit-in, during which two of my Seamless Sweater Design students handed over their completed projects for inclusion in my Student Gallery -- watch for Tracy's purple short-sleeved sweater and Joan's blue long-sleeved sweater.  What fun to be able to see the finished results, in all the different yarns and variations my students are coming up with!  I have to wait until my webmaster/photographer/husband can do his magic -- I've been able to handle the photos for my blog, but he takes very professional looking shots for my website.

Thanks to my very peaceful mini-vacation, Goal Number One (see Sunday's entry) is within reach, and I hope to tackle Goal Number Two tomorrow, as well.  I'll keep you posted...

Sarah

Sunday, April 6, 2003

Daylight Savings Time!  Spring forward!  I keep telling people there aren't enough hours in the day, and now the Powers That Be went and took another one away from me!  I gave up and slept most of the day.  Either I'm coming down with something, or I've been overextending.  Or both, more likely.

In between naps, I managed to complete the first half of the last sleeve to my Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper, and finished another chunk of the secret baby shower gift.  Here's a little peek at it:

Being a closet non-conformist, I tend to stay away from pink or blue for baby gifts.  And this is consistent with the red phase that I seem to be going through.  The yarn is by Adriafil, and the label says both Pop Art and Fantasy.  It's 100% wool.  I can't find it on the internet anywhere -- I got it on sale, so maybe it's been discontinued.  Lovely to work with, though.  Anyone figure out what I'm making yet?  Come on, it shouldn't be that hard if you've been paying attention.

Here are the goals I've set for myself to accomplish during Spring Break: 

Goal Number One:  I should EASILY be able to finish the Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper, Tokyo, and the secret baby shower gift.  I'm thinking I could also finish Mary Tudor if I put my mind to it.  What else is on the list over there?  Oh yeah.  Maybe I'll get brave and throw my Fuzzy Feet in the washer.  And I just read through SWAK's Intarsia Workshop today, and am inspired to pick up Sicily again. 

Goal Number Two:  I also want to sort through my yarn stash and look at the projects that are marinating in the bottom of the closet(s).  Then I can update the lists on the right-hand side of my blog and REALLY come clean.

Goal Number Three:  It would be really nice if I would just sit down and write some of the patterns people are waiting for.

That's about it.  If I get through those, I'll still be way behind, but I'll be a little less way behind. 

Whatever that means.

Sarah

Saturday, April 5, 2003

Well, apparently Melissa Leapman rocks, too!

This morning's workshop focused on the use of color in Fair Isle patterns, or more specifically, what works and what doesn't work.  Melissa had truckloads of swatches and sweaters with her, illustrating both good and bad examples of color patterning.  The "bad" examples were at least as educational as the "good" examples -- maybe more so.  By seeing the "rejects", I'm more likely to remember what not to do.  That doesn't guarantee I won't make those mistakes, I suppose, but I'll be more aware of what it can look like "when good Fair Isle color patterns go bad".

In the afternoon workshop, Melissa presented a number of edge treatments, including hems, ruffles, scallops and fringe.  Another boatload of samples was brought out for display -- how many suitcases did she have to bring?  We were able to experiment with all the different techniques.  It was a very inspirational session.

When I got home this evening, the information for Stitches Midwest 2003 was in my mailbox.  Among the classes offered are "Color Design in Fair Isle" and "Knitting on the Edge", both taught by renowned designer, author and educator Melissa Leapman.  Well, those are the two classes I took today, and I highly recommend them both.  Or anything else by Melissa, for that matter!  This, for example, and this and this.  What a delightful person she is (hi, Melissa!).

Here's a photo of me with my new best friend! 

This was actually a very difficult picture for me to post, as I think it's the first picture taken of me since I quit coloring my hair.  Be kind.  Coincidentally, I also received this in the mail today, from my mom:

Sigh.

Sarah

Friday, April 4, 2003

Sally Melville ROCKS!

It took a washing machine and a gabillion dryer runs, but my Minimum Scarf made out of Touch Me transformed magically from a nice chenille garter stitch scarf that I didn't think could be any softer, to a hard wet knot that made me really nervous, to an incredibly creamy, drapey, heavenly mass of buttery softness (like buttah).  Here, see for yourself:

If only you could feel this fabric.  It's absolutely amazing.  Here's a close-up:

All I can say is, it used to look like a garter stitch scarf, and now it's an entirely different animal.  Oh, I wish I'd taken a close-up just after I finished knitting it, and I wish I'd taken a picture of it coming out of the washing machine.  Dang.  There's a "before" picture in my March 30 entry, but it wasn't close enough for you to see the texture.

And do you see the pretty pin?  My neighbor makes jewelry out of found objects.  This one is made out of a paper clip, a key, a buckle, a spring, a barrette, an earring thingie...you can see a bit of everything in the photo (at least, I can!).

Tomorrow Tracy A. is taking me to a double feature.  Two back-to-back Melissa Leapman workshops.  The first is color design for Fair Isle knitting, and the second has to do with edgings.  Melissa is being hosted by an out-of-town guild, and I don't think I know anyone there.  I'm actually very excited about that -- first about being a student instead of a teacher for a day, and second about being a stranger.  I can't remember the last time I went somewhere knitting-related that someone didn't ask my advice about something.  I don't mind it at all -- it's what I do for a living, after all, but it will be refreshing to be ignored for a change.  (Let me emphasize to my local knitting friends:  I don't mind it at all!!!!  Keep asking!).  I did my swatches this afternoon, and made sure my knitting bag was loaded up with everything I might need for the workshops.  I'll take my camera!  I wonder if Tracy is packing her lunch? 

I made some progress on my Sally Melville Knit-Down, Made-to-Measure Jumper (have I mentioned that Sally rocks?), and on the secret baby shower gift.  I had a little meeting with the owner of the non-existent Snowfall sweater, and we made a decision that will enable me to get started on that project, finally.  That's another long story, but I'll save it for later. 

So all in all, a very productive knitting day.  I started some Spring cleaning, too, since my sister and her husband are coming for a quick visit in a few weeks.  I have students and knitting friends in and out of the house on a regular basis, so the first floor has stayed fairly clean, but the upstairs and the basement have been off limits since way before Thanksgiving, and they'll take some work.  I found the floor of my bedroom today, which was a big accomplishment. 

Now where to put all those bags of yarn I took out of there? 

Sarah

Thursday, April 3, 2003

Here's what I've been puzzling over today:  Son number one recently said to me,

"When you're older, you're going to look like one of those cooking show ladies." 

I have no idea what he meant by that, but I think it was a compliment. 

Lookie what I got from ThreadBear today!!!!!

A hank of Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters in Ruby River (on the right) for gloves to go with (on the left) my Mountain Colors Merino Ribbon Ruby River Shape It! Scarf (whew -- that's a mouthful!).  And they'll also go with those other three red scarves I seem to be making.  Three of the students in my Beginning Knitting class today are psychotherapists, and when I mentioned that I was making a lot of bright red scarves, they nodded and said it had something to do with my root chakra.  I'll have to look that up.

 And this was in the box, too:

Noro Silk Garden in color 08 for the De Colores jacket from the Fall 2002 issue of Knitter's magazine.  I don't know if it's appropriate to take a photograph of the picture in the magazine, so you'll have to look it up if you can.  It paired Noro Cash Iroha in black with Silk Garden in color 50.  I saw the actual jacket from Knitter's at Stitches Midwest in St. Charles, Illinois last summer, and it was drop dead gorgeous.  More texture than I had expected.  Unfortunately, I don't do well with the original Silk Garden colors, so I tried experimenting with these icy tones:

That's Noro Silk Garden in color 74.  Turned out to be too brown for my taste, but this part was pretty:

So I ordered color 08 based on a teeny tiny swatch I had seen here.  Matt sent me a photo of the 08 with plum Cash Iroha, which I showed you on Monday, but I think I've gotta stick with the black.

Hey, I ordered that Ruby River Mountain Colors in Monday night's blog entry, and it arrived this afternoon (Thursday).  Most excellent service, Mr. Thread and Mr. Bear!  Thanks!

The Touch Me scarf is currently in the dryer.  I'm afraid to look.  I'll post a photo of the results tomorrow.

Until then...

Sarah

(we've never even SEEN a cooking show!)

Wednesday, April 2, 2003

Okay, just to clarify from last night's entry:  Evelyn is not a dummy wearing a red sweater.  Evelyn was standing NEXT to a dummy wearing a red sweater.  Just wanted to make that clear.

Short entry tonight.  I taught six and a half hours of knitting classes today, and I'm wiped out.  One more afternoon class tomorrow and then I'm off for a week and a half -- Spring Break!  We're not going anywhere, but I can get caught up on a lot of things at home.  Or I can lay around like a lump.  Either way, I'll be happy.

I finished the Minimum Scarf (yay!).  It's currently 32 inches in length.  I'll try to be brave and machine wash and dry it tomorrow.  Cross your fingers for me!

I bought a button for Tokyo, and I'm off to a good start on my secret baby shower gift.  Lots of garter stitch (gee, I wonder what book THAT'S from?). 

Sarah

Tuesday, April 1, 2003

I'm on the third and final ball of Touch Me for the Minimum Scarf.  I've gone up two needle sizes and down four stitches in width, and I'm now getting about 10.5 to 11 inches per ball.  That will give me a 31-32" scarf, which is a lot better than 27".  Sally Melville, author of The Knitting Experience: The Knit Stitch, from whence this pattern originated, says confidently that despite what the label says, Touch Me can be machine washed and dried, and that the resulting fabric is wonderful.  She says it will end up a little narrower than it started.  I wonder if this means that it will grow in length?  We shall see.  I can't believe I'm going to put $43.50 worth of scarf ($46.11 with tax) in the washer and dryer, when the label clearly says (and I quote) "Dry clean only, do not block!"  They even included that exclamation point.  If this doesn't work, Sally's gonna have some 'splainin' to do (obscure I Love Lucy reference, sorry).

Look who came to my house tonight:

Looking at heads from left to right, we have Mary, Mary, Laura (not quite contrary, as you may have expected!), Karin, Joan, Krista and Carolyn.  Terri is just off to the right, but she got to be in my blog on Sunday, so I didn't have any qualms about not being able to squeeze her into the picture.  And I see I haven't gotten my screens put in the windows yet -- perhaps that's because it keeps SNOWING in between the 70 degree days -- you gotta love Michigan.

And panning to the right (but skipping Terri):

We have Debi, Jen, Jane, Ann, Faina and Charlotte.  Ooh, lookie, there's Tokyo and my pillow cover, waiting for the ends to be woven in, along with the directions for the swatches I need for my Melissa Leapman workshops this weekend.  Not happening tonight, however.

In the kitchen I found:

Evelyn, a dummy wearing a red sweater (soon to appear here), Judith (seated), Tracy (stuffing her face) and Cheanne.

I made vegetable soup (see the pot on the stove?), oatmeal-and-sesame-seed bread (a knit-in standard) and a tossed salad.  The knitters brought lots more goodies, and I don't think anyone left hungry.  Not as exciting as the spreads put on by Rob and Matt, and no theme, unless it was "cleaning out the fridge".  Speaking of Rob and Matt, they chose to attend a knit-in a few hundred miles closer to their home, but showed up via crackly cell phone later in the evening (can you hear me now?).  

And then there was a sighting of the mysterious webmaster/photographer/husband, using an innocent bystander as cover:

That's it from here.  Oh, I swatched for a new project today.  There's a baby shower coming up in May, and I've gotta get cracking!  I wonder if the mom-to-be reads my blog?  Better keep it a secret for now.

Sarah

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