Monday, January 30, 2006

Bad knitting vibes here.  I hope it's not contagious.  You might want to wash your hands after reading this entry, so you don't catch anything.

There is progress, which is a good thing, but there's also the opposite of progress, which is a bad thing.

First, the progress:  The sleeve portion of St. Brigid's sleeves are complete, as of last night's DVD viewing.

(Ooh -- a quick aside:  I'm adding Gregory Peck to my list of hubba hubbas.  Oh my!)

I still have to do the saddle portion of the sleeves, then block everything, assemble, and knit the collar.  The end is in sight!

I've also finished the easy part of the Women's Mitered Cardigan, which I don't believe I've shown you yet.  Here's a peek:

Mmm.  Purple and black Koigu.  Could I be any more pleased with this yarn?  I like my choice WAY better than KnitPicks' choice.

There are a lot of things that could possibly go wrong with this sweater.  I'm not sure I have enough yarn, I'm making too small a size (due to the yarn issue), I'm not sure I have enough yarn, there's no neck shaping because the body is composed of mitered squares, I'm not sure I have enough yarn, the length is going to be pretty short, and I'm not sure I have enough yarn.  Did I mention that I may not have enough yarn?

I finished the back and fronts and blocked the crap out of them, trying to achieve a 20" square for the back, and two 10"x20" rectangles for the front.  They're a smidge shy of that, but I think I still have something to work with.  I used to make all of my sweaters 40" in circumference, and they always looked too big.  When I learned to measure store-bought sweaters that fit nicely, I started making my sweaters 38" in circumference.  Not a huge difference, but they seemed to fit better.  I'm hoping that holds true with this one, too, because I'm pretty sure I can hit a little over 38".

I'm going to try to add garter stitch wedges (gussets?) at the shoulders, which will create some neck shaping and drop the body pieces down for a little added length.

Then stockinette stitch sleeves and a garter stitch collar, and then the whole thing is supposed to be trimmed in i-cord.

Did I mention that I may not have enough yarn? 

But wouldn't it look awesome trimmed in black i-cord, with black buttons?  That's part of my back-up plan. 

Lots of potential for disaster, though.

And then there's my Sweet Cardigan.  BitterSweet, actually.  A disaster of rather epic proportions.  More accurately, it's a disaster of rather meager proportions.  As in, six inches too meager.

The body is done, the shoulders have been joined, the border has been attached, and sleeve number one has been started (twice).  I chose to sew the side seams this morning so I could check the fit, and . . . well . . . it didn't fit.  Not even close.

I checked my gauge (a little LATE!), which was off from my gauge swatch.  My gauge swatch has been washed.  My sweater hasn't.

Before I tear everything apart, I'm making another gauge swatch so I can take a "before washing" measurement as well as an "after washing" one.  Unfortunately, even if I meet my previous "after" gauge, I think I should have been making a larger size.  Remember that 38" circumference I'm shooting for these days?  Sweet is tapered in at the waistline.  I am most definitely NOT tapered in at the waistline.

That reminds me -- I need to order a new swimsuit before we go to Florida in February. 

I keep thinking of all the time that's been "wasted", although I always tell my students that a) "You're really getting your money's worth out of that yarn!" b) "Think of all the practice you're getting!" and c) "It's all part of the design process!"  Doesn't make me feel any better, though. 

Sweet is currently a projecta non grata.

I'm nervous about proceeding with my purply black Koigu, but I think it's safe to work on St. Brigid.

Knock on wood.

Sarah

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

I've decided to go with Krystyna for the Knitting Olympics.

I REALLY wanted to work on De Colores, and I was convinced it would win by a landslide.  I already had the yarn sitting by my chair, and had been fondling the swatches I made a year or so ago.  It even won in the runoff election spontaneously held by my loyal readers (it was a tie again if we count all three of Jacque's votes).

But.

I was surprised that so many of you voted for Krystyna, and with such good reasons (I'm tall and thin in MY mind, too, Dawn -- thank you!).  And I neglected to mention that we will be in Florida for five of the sixteen days of the challenge, where knitting will definitely be happening, but where wool and varieties of Noro may not be the best choices.  Linen?  Not a problem.

So I e-mailed Stephanie, and I swatched (warning:  photo taken at weird angle to avoid photographer's shadow, which is there anyway):

Pretty exciting, eh?  Can you even see anything?  The flash washed out the texture completely, and I tried to fiddle around with the lighting in Photoshop but only succeeded in turning the swatches a very lovely shade of dark violet. 

I've already got the cables memorized, so this should be relatively easy to knit.  Still a challenge though, due to the time constraints, of course, and also maybe due to the potential boredom factor (did I mention that I've got the cables memorized already?).

The fabric is beautiful, so I'm looking forward to the end product.

And then I'll cast on for De Colores.

----------

In other news, I've finished yet another tiny sweater:

I keep forgetting to put stuff in for scale.  This is a toddler-sized sweater for a customer's grandchild, knit in Encore Colorspun.  I had to break the yarn every so often to avoid color pooling as my gauge shifted subtly throughout the project.

Quicky update:

The body of Sweet is done -- skinny border and sleeves to go, but the needle for the border is being used in . . .

. . . the last front of the Women's Mitered Cardigan, which progresses slowly but surely.

The sleeves of St. Brigid are halfway done lengthwise, but with those pesky increases, I'm definitely not halfway done stitchwise!  I'm working them both at the same time (all on one circular needle), which I don't usually like to do since I frequently get distracted and find out I've just been working on one anyway.  So far so good, though. 

Everything else is still marinating, although I've been eyeing the denim-colored Ballybrae I found in the bag with the linen for Krystyna.  Hmm . . .

Sarah

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Well, heck!  I don't know what to do.  There's a tie between A (De Colores) and B (Krystyna).  I didn't expect that!  What should I do?

Let's distract ourselves with some pictures.

First, four (!) different sized samples for my Beginning Finishing class:

Second and third, my lovely Kimono:

You get the non-flash photos, because they showed the texture the best.

I was pushed out of my comfort zone by some of my knitting friends, who challenged me to use a color I wouldn't normally use.  The result was a very bright and shiny fuschia, which I ended up tearing out at the halfway point and re-knitting along with a variegated pastel ribbon in an attempt to tone it down.  All yarns were hand dyed by Nancy at Woven Art, and were all beautiful, but I would never have picked any of them out on my own.  I was convinced I wouldn't wear the finished garment -- still fuschia, still bright and shiny, and now with pastels added to the mix -- but when I bound off the shoulders and tried it on, I was EXTREMELY pleasantly surprised.  I've worn it twice so far, and the reaction has been very positive!  I think it's pretty darned fabulous, if I may say so myself!

I tried REALLY HARD to get the front band long enough so it wouldn't pull up in the front (see the bottom of the side view), but the weight of the yarn was working against me -- this is a HEAVY fabric.  I knit the body on size 13 U.S. needles (very huge for me, as I'm a loose knitter and usually have to use smaller needles than the "to-gauge" knitter).  I used size 15 U.S. needles for the border (the largest needles I own) and used a suspended bind off, which I just learned last year. 

A suspended bind off is worked in the normal fashion, except that you don't take the left hand needle out of the stitch you've just pulled off of the right hand needle until after you've knit the next stitch.  This elongates the bound off stitches, resulting in a looser edge.

Anyway, I'm living with (and loving) the swoopy bottom, and I'm dreaming of the next Kimono I'm going to make -- I'll have to check the stash to see what I have available.

----------

Thank you for your responses to my plea for help, but what the heck am I going to do about this Olympic Knitting thingy? 

Sarah

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

There are bodies everywhere.

I've been knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and have accomplished the following:

Four samples (of different sizes) for my Beginning Finishing class are finished and are currently soaking in a nice warm Eucalan bath.  I hope they'll be dry in time for class on Friday night!

I re-worked the neckline of my Entrelac Cardigan yesterday and connected the shoulders.  All that remains are sleeves and a front/neck border.  This is for my Entrelac Design class, and I'm caught up until class next Wednesday morning.  My students have been working hard on their Entrelac sweaters since October, and they're all doing REALLY well.  The finish line is in sight!

I finished the knitting of my Kimono and three-needle-bind-offed (hmm.) the shoulders.  Currently trying to add a border that isn't too short for the body.  This was from a class I took in the summer, and I'd like to get it finished before tomorrow night when I know I'll see my teacher.

St. Brigid continues to marinate, with the front and back finished and the sleeves barely begun.  We have a mid-February deadline now.  Sister Number Two has an important birthday looming.

The back of the Sweet Cardigan is complete, and one front is on the needles.  This is a low priority right now, since it's just for me, and not for a class.  It's a quick and easy knit, and I can't wait to wear the end result!

The front and back of the Toddler's Pullover is finished and connected at the shoulders.  Sleeves and neckline are currently non-existent.  Deadline is the end of January, for a customer's grandchild's birthday.  No problem!  It's toddler-sized!

The back and one of the fronts of the Women's Mitered Cardigan have been completed.  The other front is on the needles.  Again, a low priority, but this is the project I carry around in my purse, so it gets worked on daily.  Once the body pieces are done it will more of a challenge, as I plan to alter the construction of the sweater quite a bit.

See?  Bodies everywhere.

No photos though, because my head hurts and I don't want to do a photo shoot.

Already on the camera, however, were these lovelies:

Kellie's vest from my Introduction to Intarsia class, in a beautiful deep purple with lime green trim:

Tamsyn's handbag from my Introduction to Aran Knitting class, complete with bright, tropical lining!  I showed you this bag before, but Tamsyn hadn't finished installing the lining, so this is the final glamour shot.

And Annette, being an overachiever, finished TWO handbags -- I forget what yarn everyone said they used, so I'll have to find that out again.  Same pattern, different yarn, results in different sized bags.

With POCKETS in her lining, and a magnetic closure . . .

. . . and my favorite part -- purse feet!

Hooray!

After reading the comments to last Thursday's post, I was reminded of a couple of additional names to add to my list of heart throbs, and I decided to go ahead and include some of the oldies but goodies.  So:

7. Rutger Hauer.  I repeat -- the only blonde on the list to whom I'm not related by marriage.
8. Paul Michael Glaser.  I can't bring myself to watch the movie version of Starsky and Hutch, since it just wouldn't be the same.  Was the t.v. series a comedy?  I took it very seriously.
9. Keanu Reeves.  Another pretty one.  I'll see anything he's in, just to get another glimpse.
10. James Garner.  I don't know what it is with him -- he kind of reminds me of my dad, although they have nothing in common.  So not really a heart throb, I guess, because that would be weird.  But a favorite, nonetheless.
11. Aidan Quinn.  I'd forgotten about him -- I'll have to find some of his movies to watch, to rekindle the flame.  I have Desperately Seeking Susan around here somewhere, but probably on video, and our VCR is out of commission.  Sorry, but I really liked that movie.

Others mentioned in comments were Mel Gibson, Paul Newman, John Cusack, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Michael Jordan (although this was actually one of my husband's "crushes" -- don't ask), Tom Selleck, Ben Wallace, Sam Elliott, John Corbett, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, Joseph Fiennes . . . was that it?  I'm putting them here for posterity because I don't save my comments once I move things to the archives.

I think I'll e-mail the Yarn Harlot and throw my hat in the ring(s) for The Knitting Olympics.  I can't decide which project to work on, though.  Will you help?

Here are the choices (all from stash, because I'm being a very good girl.  Well, I'm TRYING to be a very good girl -- only three hanks of yarn purchased so far this year).

1. De Colores, from the Fall 2002 issue of Knitter's Magazine.  Noro Cash Iroha in black and Noro Silk Garden in color 87.  The challenge?  20 panels of a slip stitch pattern, blocked and joined and seamed and bordered and collared, within 16 days.  And I suppose the ends should be woven in, as well.  I haven't done much slip stitch before.  I have been saving this sweater as "reward" knitting for having gotten something monumental done, but I always have another monumental project to work on instead, so it's been neglected. 
2. Krystyna, from Louet Sales.  Louet Euroflax linen in a soft purply-blue.  The challenge?  16 days with linen that isn't the softest yarn in the world to knit with, so it looks kind of stiff and scraggly until it's been washed and blocked -- therefore, I probably wouldn't love the sweater until it's all done.  I've actually washed the hanks of linen a few times already to try to make the knitting experience more enjoyable.
3. Maidenhair Shawl, from Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting, for Sister Number Two.  Jamieson's Soft Shetland in a misty blue.  The challenge?  Miles of cables and eyelets and bobbles in 16 days.  The second sweater I agreed to make for my sister and then didn't.  It would be a load off my mind to have it done, especially if I get her first sweater done before the Olympics begin.

So which one should I choose?  And don't you dare say "all three!"  That would be a little too much of a challenge.  I figure that even if I don't finish what I start within the designated time period, I'll have a project mostly done, that I wouldn't have started yet otherwise (that's a bad sentence, but my head is pounding).

What's today, Wednesday?  I'll e-mail the Yarn Harlot on Saturday with my project, so you have until midnight on Friday to send me your opinion.  Sister Number Two, you don't even have to figure out how to work my comments -- I'll just put you down for "C". 

Thanks for your help!

Sarah

Thursday, January 12, 2006

As predicted, I didn't get any knitting done at Tuesday's knit-in.  I just had time to shovel some food in my face before I had to pick Son Number Two up from basketball practice, and then supervise Sons One and Two to make sure they didn't kill each other, and to get them to bed on time (Husband Number One is out of town).

After the house was quiet, I popped in a DVD (Edward Scissorhands) and got out my darning needle. 

Let me just go off on a little tangent here.  I'm a big Johnny Depp fan, but movies like Edward Scissorhands and Willie Wonka cause me to (momentarily) wonder why.  While I'm sure that Mr. Depp is probably a fine actor, I'm afraid I can't vouch for his acting skills because I'm too busy oohing and aahing over his pretty boy looks.

Motivated by some recent knit-in discussions, let me just tell you who, to put it bluntly, I've got the hots for.  In no particular order, except of course for Number One.  No links -- you'll have to Google the ones you don't know.

1. Husband Number One.  If I don't put him at the top of the list, I'll never hear the end of it.
2. Johnny Depp.  His full-length photo on the liner (?) of the CD for the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean (are you keeping up?) makes me very happy.  Loved him in that movie, and in Chocolat, and I'm blanking on anything else right now because I had the Pirates of the Caribbean CD close at hand and now I'm all distracted.
3. Colin Firth.  A little sub-group of the Tuesday night knit-ins has been debating the merits and faults of Pride and Prejudice in all of its various cinematic incarnations.  I believe we're all including Colin Firth in our fantasy "best of" version.  Loved Bridget Jones' Diary (which got me started on the whole Pride and Prejudice kick), The Edge of Reason, Love Actually, Girl with a Pearl Earring . . .  I think he's very pleasant looking most of the time, but when he gets that look in his eye . . . well . . . I'm a goner.
4. Antonio Banderas, but not with short hair.  I watched El Mariachi last night, which does NOT include Antonio Banderas in its cast but is a fabulous movie anyway.  Then I watched its sequel, Desperado, which DOES include a very lovely long-haired Antonio.  Tonight I'll be watching Once Upon a Time in Mexico (part 3 of the series), which features not only Antonio Banderas but also an incredibly wacky Johnny Depp.  Please do not disturb.

Alec Baldwin used to be on the list, but dropped off at some point.  I think I found out a little more than I wanted to about his personal life.

Rutger Hauer was the only blonde on the list until I met Husband Number One, but he (Rutger, not Husband) dropped off at some point, too -- probably just because I didn't see him around as much as I used to.  He was in something recently -- can't remember what it was.  Oh -- I just looked at his filmography -- it was Batman Begins, and I see he was in Sin City, too, but I don't remember seeing him in that.  I'll have to watch it again.

Geez -- who else?  I'm blanking.

I used to have a thing for Paul Michael Glaser, who played Starsky in Starsky and Hutch, but that was in the seventies, and I was, like, three years old (ha!).

Oh!

5. Jeremy Irons.  Fell in love with him when I first saw Brideshead Revisited, and ooh, baby, was I ecstatic when I discovered his voice on the books-on-tape version.  Mmmm.
6. I asked Son Number Two for help, but he looked kind of frightened when I asked him which male actors his mom thought were really sexy.  He did remind me that I've often said that if Keith Olbermann rang my doorbell and offered to join the family, I wouldn't turn him away (I believe I've even referred to him as "your new dad" in front of the kids, as in "Look, kids -- your new dad is on the television!").  I don't consider him an actor -- more of a media personality -- but he certainly makes the list.

Can that be it?  Who am I forgetting?  Who are YOUR heartthrobs?

----------

So.  Weren't we supposed to be talking about knitting?  I think we were!

Here's what I finished up while watching Johnny Depp on Tuesday night:

More Knots and Spirals hats from my Continental Knitting class!  These will be shop models, to try to drum up some pattern sales.  I really should write up some of my other class projects as patterns for sale -- that's been on my to do list for far too long.

And from my Toe Up Socks class:

Koigu!  Very firmly knit, since the lacy Koigu socks I knit a couple of years ago were one of a very few pairs of my handknit socks that have gotten holes in them (besides the lace, I mean!).

----------

I should probably wrap up this post, but I wanted to tell you about the big revelation I had this year.

One of my New Year's resolutions was going to be to finish up lots of projects so that I was down to maybe three works-in-progress at one time.  I thought I was feeling stressed out about the piles of knitting that surround my favorite chair, and I thought I needed to finish everything up as quickly as possible.  In the process of trying to cram more yarn into my yarn closet, however, I got all excited about starting new things and proceeded to cast on for even more projects, using yarn that hadn't really been earmarked for anything in particular.

It felt really good.

I realized that it wasn't the piles of knitting that were bothering me, it was the balls of yarn waiting patiently to be used that were causing stress, particularly the ones that I had bought without a pattern in mind.

So four of my newer projects on the needles (Entrelac Cardigan, Swatch Cap, Sweet Cardigan, Women's Mitered Cardigan) are from un-earmarked yarn, and I'm feeling quite proud of myself and much more relaxed.  I wonder what else is down there in the yarn closet, feeling unloved?

Sarah

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

I ended the year with about a half dozen projects that only need a little something here or a little something there.  They're all going to get done in 2006 (and hopefully within the next week), but I wondered if it would be acceptable to add them to 2005's Finished Projects page, since that's when the majority of the work was done.  I quickly decided that it was a silly question because the Projects will be Finished in 2006, so onto the newly created 2006 Finished Projects page they will go.

First project finished in 2006:  The little bag for my Introduction to Aran (Cable) Knitting class needed a lining . . .

. . . which it now has . . .

. . . and I have to say that Wonder Under is the most Wonderful Underful creation ever.  I used it to fuse the very thick non-fusible interfacing (Peltex) to the pretty purple lining fabric.  Quick and easy!  Then there was a little pesky sewing involved, but that wasn't hard.  It stands up like a little box, which is exactly what I had envisioned.  Please pardon me while I pat myself on the back for a moment.

I hope to finish up a few more projects at the weekly knit-in tonight, but I usually jinx myself when I make statements like that, so don't count on it. 

Here's the most recent addition to my workbasket:

It's the Sweet cardigan from Kate Buller's Ultimate Knitter's Guide.  I made the pullover version years ago from some black Jaeger Extra Fine Merino, lost it for a few years, found it recently, and was wearing it last Friday when a light bulb went on over my head:  "Hey -- I love this sweater!  I bet it would look great in that pale violet-colored Garnstudio Angora Tweed that's been sitting in my stash.  Hey look -- there's a cardigan version, too!"  That's what the light bulb said.  Who am I to argue?

I dove right in with the Almanac-along.  This is a twelve month knit-along based on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac (which just happens to be the book the pattern for those knitted stars was found in, and which costs less than $8.00).  January is all about Arans, and while I'd love to make the Aran pullover described in the chapter, or even to finish one of the umpteen Arans I'm in the middle of, I think I'm being very realistic in expecting to complete the hat, which Elizabeth suggests you use for your swatch (hence the term, "Swatch Cap").   

I'm glad I'm swatching, because I'm having issues:

I adore the twisted stitch cables to the right of the stitch marker, but the traveling stitches to the left are looking a little travel-weary.  I think the ones that lean to the right are fine (nothing that a good blocking wouldn't fix), but the ones that lean to the left are sad and choppy.  I used the "Left Twist" and "Right Twist" Elizabeth describes on page 7, and yes, I'm sure I'm doing it right.  I had this same problem with Uberimma's sweater, which had the same kind of pattern (among many others).  I solved it by working each traveling stitch as a cable rather than as a traveling stitch.  In other words, I took a stitch off the needle and held it to the front or the back, knit the next stitch, and then knit the "loose" stitch.  Anyone have any suggestions for how to make traveling stitches travel in a straight line?  I'll go check out the Almanac Yahoo Group that Franklin mentioned on the knit-along website and see if they have any tips.

Oh!  I almost forgot to tell you!  My painters (three of them!) arrived Monday morning and had my whole house painted by late afternoon.  One day.  All done.  Very happy.  Have now uncrossed my fingers, which has greatly improved the speed of my knitting.

And please go check out the new blog, Red Dog Knits, to see what Otis has been up to.  Otis's mom is one of my knitting students, and she is, as we all are, in love with knitting.

Sarah

Saturday, January 7, 2006

Well.

It's a new year.

GOOD NEWS:

My Secret Santa struck again:

Gorgeous Ritratto yarn by S. Charles, in purple!!

I suspected that my Secret Santa had been motivated by a pre-holiday rant I had delivered at a Tuesday night knit-in about a month before Christmas.  I had it narrowed down to two of the people who had attended that gathering, and ended up confronting one of them (correctly) after receiving this final package on Christmas day.  I wanted to be able to thank her in person for making my holiday particularly special.  THANK YOU, SECRET SANTA!!!!!

MORE GOOD NEWS:

The Christmas tree stayed upright from Saturday, December 24, until Tuesday, January 3rd, when we took it down on purpose.  It only fell twice before that -- once before it was decorated, and on Christmas Eve while we were out enjoying a lovely dinner at Stillwater Grill.  No pets were involved, and only two ornaments were broken.

Christmas dinner was perfect, even without a working oven.

Our new range was finally delivered today, an hour earlier than expected (although this was the third scheduled delivery).  Husband Number One baked cookies, and they were yummy.

The painters are scheduled to be here Monday morning.  Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

We enjoyed seventeen days of doing absolutely nothing.

BAD NEWS:

Our Christmas tree, which was due to be picked up today, is still sitting at our curb at 11:45 p.m.

I can't justify making reservations for dinner every night anymore.

Our new range can't be pushed up against the wall due to the way the gas line was installed, so now we get to call somebody to move the gas line.  The old range fit snugly against the wall with the same gas line.

I haven't received a confirmation call from the painters, as had been promised.  Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

My sons were home for seventeen days in a row.  What were the schools thinking?  We had to dig Son Number One out from under the couch cushions every couple of days -- found some loose change and a missing Lego piece, too, so that was a bonus.

MORE BAD NEWS:

The valance, or whatever the thing is called that covers the hardware for our vertical blinds, jumped its clips and landed on me earlier this week while I was minding my own business (i.e., sitting in my rocker, knitting away on some new project or other).  The evil house is throwing things at me now.

RESOLUTIONS:

Cook more.  (We celebrated the installation of our new range by going out to dinner.)

Knit from stash.  (I bought a lovely hank of LynnH's hand dyed sock yarn from Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop this week, and I'm coveting Rae's new hand dyed laceweight yarn.)

No more custom knitting.  (I've taken on five new projects so far this year.)

Finish old projects before starting new ones.  (I've finished zero projects so far this year, and started five.)

No deadlines of any kind.  (I just signed up for a year long knit-along.)

MORE RESOLUTIONS:

Stop making resolutions.  (Exercise.  Eat better.  Use a blow dryer.  Floss.)

Get more sleep.  (Good night!)

Sarah

Previous month's archive