What a difference a neckband makes

Neckband #1:

Yuck

Pretty frumpy. (The sweater, I mean - though I'm not much better. I blame the head cold.) It took me a little while to realize that the real problem was too many stitches in the neckband. At first I thought it was the narrow armscye, which to be honest, is too narrow. If you look for it, you can see it in the original photos and in most of the photos on Ravelry - it shows up as the chest of the sweater pushing over onto the upper arms.

Neckband #2 looks much better - I just cast on a lot fewer stitches. I will show it to you as soon as I fix the "quarterback shoulders". Anyone have suggestions about how to get steeks to lie a little flatter?

Sleeve setting already

Almost a week (two days back from Sac) and still no sleeves? I'm such a slacker. I will now take a break from the two new sweaters I have going (I'm a knitting tramp ("harlot" is taken)) and sew in Venezia's sleeves - stay tuned.

Getting close

Now that the election is over (aw yeah, my fellow Americans!), I shall reveal the progress on Venezia.

I finished the body a while ago (stupid standard time prevents picture taking on week nights which is why you haven't seen it yet). I did decide to go with a scoop neck, which I had to do twice because it was too square the first time.

Front neckline

I did only 8 stripe stitches on the neck instead of the 10 on the sleeve to keep it from being bulky under the neck band. I did secure the steeks with crochet, although they haven't been secured yet in these photos.

I ended up knitting the sleeve three and a half times: half of first sleeve on dps before realizing I had started on the wrong row; first sleeve on dpns; second sleeve using Magic Loop; then first sleeve again, using Magic Loop because it came out much less lumpy than on dpns. Once I had the colorwork pattern memorized, it went pretty quickly. The upper part of the body was also done using Magic Loop rather than dpns or shorter circular needles. I definitely recommend it.

With crochet secured steeks

Snip snip

It looks like a sleeve!

I will admit I was skeptical that the crocheting would hold the steeks, but they did, even through a gentle wash and block.

Can I digress? I don't understand why, if the related article on steeks only talked about steeks with an odd numbers of stitches, the sweater has steeks with 10 stitches. It was a problem when it came to securing. Lame. Anyway...

You can see the folded neckband I picked up around the neckline. The shape of the neck turned out pretty well. I tried it on at the stage you see above and noticed 2 things. First, it made me look fat. I'm hoping that was the dorkiness associated with no sleeves. Second, the neck band gaped at the back. I'm hoping a good blocking fixes that problem. Otherwise, I will be undoing and redoing.

Currently the sleeves are done blocking, but the body is still a bit damp. I will take up the task of setting in the sleeves when I return from a short trip to Sacramento. Hasta la vista (baby)!

I hope y'all voted

I did - you know I wouldn't miss this one. It sure feels good to vote. Sometimes, like today, it feels even better than knitting.

Bzzzzzz... *Hiccup* Bzzzzzz....

I need to clean the mirror

Got totally paranoid that I would finish the body and it would not fit. (I haven't checked my gauge since I started the sleeve.) So I chucked it on a couple of long needles and tried it on. I still have three waist increases to go.

Dude

Venezia colorwork chart memorized. 36sts x 26 rows in my head. OK, it's more like I can guess pretty well where I am and then look a couple of rows down to verify. And it only took me one full sleeve and 20% of the body. Almost done with the waist decreases.

In other knitting news: my wonderful mother-in-law bought me 6 hanks of Manos Silk Blend in Stellar (3110) as an early Christmas present when we were in Wisconsin. I'm lucky lucky lucky to have a MIL who likes to go to yarn stores and buy me yarn. I think the Manos may become a ladies version of the Cobblestone pullover.

And I started a pair of Drunken Bees. And I bought some yarn from Knit Picks. And Yarn Garden. I am on a knitting bender.

It's a sleeve! (almost)

Slowly plodding along on Venezia. Took a bit of a break to make a BYOB for a friend's birthday present (finished it the same day I gave it away, so no pictures), but picked it up again now that we are in our new house. I'm 2 rows away from the steeks.

Perhaps I'm thinking too far ahead, but what piece should I make next: the second sleeve, or the body?

In other news, I ordered some yarn. Need to start more projects! Seriously.

Spotty posting

Sorry about the irregular posting lately. Things is busy around here, with traveling and buying a house(!), and I expect it will be this way for another month or so. Also, no pics. Boohoo. Matty just brought the camera back from his business trip today. And it was too hot to take photos and is now too dark. And still too hot. (My mantra is "At least we don't live in Sacramento anymore".)

Knitting goes on, although it isn't terribly interesting right now. I have picked up Venezia again after a hiatus following starting over. I would say I am about two repeats in, just about the point I ripped back before - I know because I finally got to stop pulling yarn from around the balls and am now pulling from the inside. I really hate working it on the dpns, but it just isn't big enough for the 16" circ, and probably won't ever be.

I started a BYOB for a friend's birthday present. Not much to say about that, besides that I need more yarn for it. I'm probably two thirds of the way done with the Damask bag, it's an 'every now and then' kind of project.

And I have no travel knitting for my trip tomorrow. What am I going to do for a week? Read a book?? Ugh. But. I did look up the nearest yarn shop to where I'm staying. I'm toying with the idea of taking a shawl pattern and needles and picking some laceweight up when I get there.

OK, laptop is getting too hot to touch, gotta go. I'll try to post something interesting when I get back in a week or so. Enjoy your week!

The most expensive sock yarn I've ever purchased

Say hello to Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in the colorway "Misty Moor". Yumm.


I actually paid $24.75 for it. Most people I know would consider that nuts.

I had a very hard time figuring out what to do with it. I loved the color in the skein, but I began many sock patterns only to decide that the variegation just wasn't working. I did not want to knit a plain stockinette sock. I did not want to knit another pair of Monkeys. (I have never knit a plain pair of socks, and I very rarely knit a pattern twice.)

One pattern was looking pretty good:

That's Eunny Jang's Entrelac Socks from Interweave Knits. It looked great. It did not fit so great. And if it was too tight for my foot, it would definitely be too tight for my leg.

Most recently, I started the Child's French Sock by Nancy Bush, but I wasn't pleased with that either. So I kept the ribbing and made up a little 12 stitch panel to fit between some stretches of stockinette. Here's the first one; second one is in progress.

No Name Socks

Sorry this took so long. I'm not fond of taking photos.

No Name Socks

The stitch pattern in these socks is based on one from Gisela Klöpper’s Beautiful Knitting Patterns. The stitch patterns in the book aren’t named and this one doesn’t really bring any particular object to mind, so I was at a loss for what to call them (other than “seat of your pants socks”). The book really does have some beautiful knitting stitches, I highly recommend it.

These instructions will help you knit the socks as I did. They aren’t perfect, so a list of possible modifications follows the pattern. I’m using standard abbreviations that can be found at Knitty.

NOTE: This pattern is an outline of how to knit the socks, rather than complete, row-by-row directions. If you have never knit socks before, don’t try to make this your first pair. Or second.

As always, please don’t reproduce this pattern for distribution or sale, or make socks for sale using this pattern.

Yarn and Needles
The yarn I used was Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Stretch. I used a single 100g ball for the pair along with US size 0 needles for the foot and cuff and size 1 needles for the leg. The pattern is really stretchy, so I’m not giving you a gauge to work toward. Have you ever done a gauge swatch for socks anyway? Me neither. Use “sock gauge.”

Directions:

Toe:
Using your preferred method for toe-up cast-on (eastern, figure-8, magic loop), CO 16 sts.

Increase 4 sts every other round on the toe until there are 68 sts.

Foot:

Set up round: K34, [p1, ktbl 1, p1, ktbl 1, p1, ktbl 1, p1, k2, m1, k2] three times, p1. (71 sts).

Next round: K34, work row 2 of cable and rib pattern 3 times, p1.

Continue in pattern until you have worked through the chart 3 times, or to desired foot length. It’s probably best to end on row 11, 12, 23, or 24 of the chart if possible.

Heel:
Work the heel of your choice – I worked a short-row heel on the 34 stitch from the bottom of the foot.

Leg:
NOTE: You may want to switch to one size larger needle for the leg, especially if your ankles/calves aren’t really thin, since the charted pattern doesn’t stretch as much as the stockinette on the foot. If you have lovely slender ankles, I’d like you to know how much I envy you.

Begin working back of leg in pattern, increasing 1 st on the back of the leg on the first round. (72 sts). You should now be working 6 repeats of each row of the chart to make a round.

Continue in pattern until you have worked through the chart 3 times on the leg, ending on row 23, or to desired length, ending on row 11 or 23 of the chart.

Cuff:
If you switched to bigger needles for the leg, switch back to the small ones.

If ending on row 23:

Next round: [P1, ssk, p1, k2tog, p1, ktbl, p1, ktbl, p1, ktbl] 5 times. (60 sts)

Next round: P to end.

Note: On the next round, the knit and purl pattern differs from what you would intuitively expect given the charted pattern, just to change it up. If you aren’t comfortable with it, just do whatever combo of knits and purls makes you happy.

Next round: Establish rib as follows: *[P1, k1] twice, [p1, k2] twice*, repeat from * to * 5 more times.

Repeat last round 16 times. Bind off all sts using either a conventional cast off done loosely, or a sewn cast off.

If ending on row 11:

Next round: [P1, ktbl, p1, ktbl, p1, ktbl, p1, ssk, p1, k2tog, p1] 5 times. (60 sts)

Next round: P to end.

Note: On the next round, the knit and purl pattern differs from what you would intuitively expect given the charted pattern, just to change it up. If you aren’t comfortable with it, just do whatever combo of knits and purls makes you happy.

Next round: Establish rib as follows: *[P1, k2] twice, [p1, k1] twice*, repeat from * to * 5 more times.

Repeat last round 16 times. Bind off all sts using either a conventional cast off done loosely, or a sewn cast off.

Modifications:

Despite increasing needle size, the socks still came out a little tighter in the leg than in the foot, due to the stockinette on the bottom of the foot stretching more than the charted pattern. If you wanted, you could adjust for this a couple of ways:

1. Add another purl stitch between stitches 6 and 7 and/or 12 and 1 on every repeat of the chart – that should add 6 or 12 stitches for a total of 78 or 84 stitches.

2. Add a full repeat of the chart to the back of the leg – that will add 12 stitches for a total of 84.

3. Make the foot tighter to match the leg tension by working fewer stitches for the bottom of the foot – an easy way to do this is to increase the toe to less than 68 stitches and then do more increases when establishing the stitch pattern on the top of the foot. Remember also to adjust the number of stitches increased at the beginning of the leg to get 72 stitches.

The Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Stretch I used had plenty left over, so making the leg bigger would have been possible without an extra ball.

Other stuff:

• It should be very easy to modify this pattern for a sock worked from the cuff down. The chart looks virtually the same upside down.

• I have no idea how to do a heel flap from the toe up (and I was too lazy to learn for this sock), but if you do, I bet it would look cool.

Have fun!

© 2008 Sarah L. Castor

A little Friday (the 13th!) fun

Hee hee, I got tagged!

1. What were you doing ten years ago?
It's funny to think that exactly 10 years ago today I was recovering from jetlag and exploring London. Guess it's time to renew my passport! I would never have guessed then how my life would turn out 10 years later.

2. What are five things on your to-do list?
Hmmm. Some weeks I feel like I have a to-do list, but not really right now. I guess I should do the following: (1) I've got to get knitting on a cami I put down because it was getting complicated.
(2) I need to return some library books by tomorrow. (3) I should go clean up the bathroom (guests coming). (4) I should mail a CD of photos to my cousin Shelley, and another one to my friend Kristi. (5) Oh yeah, I need to finish up that sock pattern.

3. Where have you lived?
Suburban Portland; then Eugene, OR; then Washington, D.C.; then Sacramento, CA; then Bend, OR; then Portland. I have come home to roost.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Frak, what wouldn't I do if I were a billionaire?!? Besides the obvious stuff, I would make sure my husband got a big, bright art studio - on the five acres of beautiful wooded property located 5 minutes from downtown that I would buy with my billions. And, yes, acres of wooded property available 5 minutes from downtown is completely unrealistic, but so is me being a billionaire. And, I would buy my dad a pony. (Sorry, inside joke.)

Since I would hate to single anyone out, consider yourself tagged if you feel like it. If you don't have a blog (you should get one, but also) you can put it in the comments.

At some point, I promise

Oy. I know, it's been almost a couple of weeks since the last post. All but one project on the needles at this point is unbloggable. The sock pattern is ready, but the socks have no name and I haven't been able to get decent pictures (stupid Portland weather).

The only bloggable project right now is Venezia and I've made negative progress on it. There is nothing in the pattern that explicitly (at least I don't think so) says to purl the seam stitch with both yarns, but I think you are supposed to and I was only using the main color. I ripped it back to the cuff and in so doing, realized I had started on the wrong row of the colorwork pattern anyhow - I used the starting row for the smallest size and I'm making the second smallest size. So it was good that I frogged, but it was a setback.

I hope to have something more entertaining to report sometime soon.

The verdict

Thanks for your votes! By a wide margin, you reported that you would like a free, basic outline for the socks. I have already done most of the writing, having noted the totals over the last few days, and I will try to take some better (less blurry) shots of the socks this weekend, to aid in your knitting should you attempt them.

Here is the final tally:
Free pattern: 24
Complete pattern: 7
No pattern: 3

Venezia

I'm not sure why I started this project now, as it's getting to be summer and will be no fun to knit in the heat. But then it will probably take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to finish, so I guess I thought I would get a jump on it.

Sleeve/gauge swatch without flash (best color)


With flash (poor color representation, but a full pattern repeat!)

If you will recall, this is project 2.2 (steeks) on my Knitter's Challenge. It's intense. I'm still not that good at stranded knitting, although I'm getting better and I'm trying not to be too tight with it. Gauge is good so far. I'm very very very glad I'm not using 10 colors.

I don't think I will get to a point where I can work without the chart. I usually think this (and then I end up memorizing the pattern), but I really think it this time.

Still not sure what I will do about the neckline - I don't know that I want a boat neck, but it will be a very warm sweater and I will probably have to wear it when it is COLD, so I don't want too much skin exposed then.

PS - Keep those votes coming! It is completely anonymous, if you were wondering, so don't feel bad about voting your true preference. I totally dig honesty.

Sock pattern

I've had an inquiry or two about the "seat of my pants"socks. Before I write up a pattern, I'd like to get an idea of just how many people are really interested, since pattern writing isn't cheap (in time or mental energy - see here).

I am not fishing for compliments. Seriously. If the comment section to this post is inhabited by crickets, I will not be hurt. There are enough sock patterns out there, I'm perfectly fine if you don't feel the need for another. Frankly, I feel sort of bad about polluting the internet with another one, which is why I'm asking first.

So - show of hands (by taking the poll on the sidebar) from those who are really (enough italics yet?) interested in a pattern for the socks.

If you're still with me, you have a choice to make: a trade-off between cost (or lack of it) and completeness of pattern. Would you prefer:

a) a free pattern that is more of a rough outline of the sock (appropriate for those who have knit socks before and can fill in their own blanks)?

Or:

b) an inexpensive (but not free) pattern that has complete directions (appropriate for those who can't fill in the blanks)?

Both come with the usual tech support (me answering your e-mails) if there are errors - actual or if you just aren't sure - in what I put out.

I realize that money is a bit of an indelicate topic, but I'd like to be efficient about this - you get what you want (if, in fact, you want it) and I don't expend the wrong amount of energy in the process.

Catch up

I'm not at Knit Night tonight because I've had a cold for the last few days and no one seems to want to be around me. Seriously, my co-workers have been looking at me like I'm a leper. First of all, it's just a little cold; and second, it's not like I'm going around licking people's keyboards. I'm extremely good about using Kleenex, washing my hands, covering my cough, and not touching stuff. Where is the compassion, people?! I wouldn't have even gone in on Monday if I didn't need to be at a meeting. It (the cold, and the ridicule, actually) was bad enough yesterday to stay home from work, but I'm feeling a lot better today. Except that I can't really hear out of my left ear. And sometimes my right ear. But no more nasal congestion and much less coughing. I digress...

Since I'm not at Knit Night, and it's a really lovely evening, I shall blog for you. Look, lovely evening:

Pinky tree

Shady backyard

Some socks for your viewing pleasure:

Details:
Pattern: I just made it up
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meillenweit Cotton Stretch in Cream, 1 100g ball, with plenty to spare
Needles: US size 0 and 1 dpns
Additional info: Toe-up, baby! Check it off the list.

Bristow, in progress:


This is going to be a nice sweater, but it isn't for me. A friend was visiting a few months ago and loved one of my handknit sweaters (Tangled Yoke, actually). She said that she would like to get her grandmother a handknit sweater and asked if I would knit one. I told her she wasn't getting a Tangled Yoke, but I showed her this pattern and she liked it. She bought the yarn, I knit for free. (I'm such a sucker.)

The yarn is Knit Picks Comfy and I really like it. Buttery soft. Anyone think it might work for this sweater:

Ella, from Debbie Bliss Summer Essentials

It knits up a little loosey-goosey on size 7's, but I think the fabric might be firm enough on 6's. Yes? No? Perhaps CotLin would hold up better.

And finally: you know that rule I made about not buying blue or green yarn? Well, I violated it already.

Violation

Knit Picks Gloss in Woodland Sage and Dolphin, for a bi-color Venezia (probably with a scoop neck). I'm totally not even sorry about it. Gloss doesn't come in that many colors and these were really the only ones I though would be a good combination for me. I certainly wasn't going to take a chance on Pumpkin and Serengeti just to obey some stupid rule I made.

So I broke it. And just what are you going to do about it? That's right, you're going to enjoy it. Because knitters always enjoy seeing other people by yarn, no matter what color. In fact, I bet you were rooting for me to break that stupid rule. Shame on you.

Last Saturday's knitting, or Why I hate you, Baruffa

All that stuff I said I was going to do last Saturday? I did it. I spent virtually the whole day in my lair, dealing with yarn and knitted things. Here's what I have to show for it.

A finished (but undyed and unblocked) girl tank:

See what I mean about the color being dead? I bought some dark brown dye for it, but that will be for another weekend.

Some new yarn:

Gems merino fingering weight in crabapple. For some socks I'm dreaming up. This is the first time I have ever used Gems, of any weight, and I've been looking forward to it for some time. I really like the twist to it. The swatch came out quite nicely. I'm thinking I might need one more skein though, because the stitch pattern will probably eat up the yarn quickly.

And you might remember this from a few weeks ago - a skein of Baruffa Cashwool.

You may also notice that the ends are not intertwined. Nor are there any bits of yarn wrapped around the skein to make it easy to place on the swift. Maybe you can see where I'm going with this.

Several weeks ago, shortly after I bought it, I took the band off and attempted to wind it. I did the best I could to straighten the strands, but I got only a couple of hundred yards on the ball winder before it bound up completely.


Have a closer look.

Just f***ing lovely. I put it aside for a few weeks, but when the power went out for a few hours last Saturday, it seemed like as good a time as any to take a stab at it. I spent 3 hours sitting hunched over on the floor unweaving (I guess that's the best word for it) the yarn by hand with little cardboard bobbins. I have three little bobbins (and a really bad backache) to show for it and it's only about a third of the way done.

F***ing f***ers. If this is how they keep the yarn so affordable - by not putting any effort into making it usable - then I'm not buying it again.

I have more knitting progress to share, but it will have to wait for another night. For now, here are my little not-helpers, not helping.

Saturday knitting

I'm sure most people wouldn't think about knitting like a job, and most of the time, I don't either, but I have so much knitting sloshing around in my head that I feel like I need to get some stuff accomplished today. I've been making good progress lately, but I think I need to keep at it.

So first, accomplishments. I finished "seat of my pants" sock #1. But maybe not. I don't know, I'm not wild about the cuff. I may redo it. I originally did a tubular cast-off a la TECHknitting. It was way way too tight. So I pulled it out and did a sewn cast on. But I think the real issue is the ribbing on the cuff. I'll probably pull is back to the beginning of the cuff and start again.

Girl tank: I was too tired to even knit on it through the commercials during Battlestar last night.

(Not a bad episode, by the way, but I didn't think the writing was very good. I did, however, dig Tory and the death at the end. But that better not be the setup for the final cylon, if you know what I mean. They were trying to lead us that way, and I didn't appreciate it.)

I did get a lot of knitting done on it at knit night, though, and as of this morning, it's finished! It needs blocking BADLY. And probably a dye job. The color is so dead. I think I'll do some testing on that.

Today, I need to do some swatching of new yarn, some measuring of swatches already made, some yarn winding, and some cleanup. Yarn and needles are everywhere around here.

Sock pics

First - Knit night tomorrow at Close Knit on Alberta. I think I'll show up around 7, per usual.

Now, the main event - "Seat of my pants" sock pictures. I had planned on making this Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Stretch into some Nutkins, but the yarn is so stretchy, the yo's and ssk's pulled away from the other stitches in an unattractive fashion. Lesson learned - sock yarn with stretch is best suited for knit/purl patters, cables, and twisted stitches. I'll try Nutkins again some time with plain old wool, but something else was required for the Cotton Stretch.

So I went through my library of stitch patterns a bazillion times until I was completely cross-eyed and came up with one from Gisela Klopper's Beautiful Knitting Patterns. It called for cables and some brioche rib, but the brioche was much too springy in the stretchy yarn, so I converted the brioche rib into twisted knitted stitches and plain old purl stitches. Works well.


I gave this one a standard toe (eastern cast on of, like, 12 stitches) and a short row heel. It would be further along, but I had to rip back to increase needle size after the heel.

The girl tank progressed a little this weekend - it has become my Battlestar knitting. In case you are one of the few people I have never tried to strong arm into watching it, I should let you know that Battlestar Galactica is my FAVORITE SHOW OF ALL TIME. Period. Exclamation point. I started watching about a year and a half ago on a friend's recommendation (but I started from the beginning, which is what you should do if you haven't seen it yet; you can't just jump in the middle) and I'm so into it that I won't let myself knit while watching a new episode. It is so important to me to soak up every detail that even small glances away from the screen are unacceptable. With any other show, I wouldn't be able to help myself, but not this one.

So technically, the girl tank is my Battlestar *commercial* knitting, which means that I get about 18 minutes of knitting done one it every Friday night - more time than I would make for it otherwise. I'm bored with it. But the back is almost the right length and then it is just the fronts and some sleeves. A couple more episodes and it will be done.

Public knitting

Now that I have occasion to leave the house, I'm knitting where other people - mostly non-knitters - can see me. This is a new, and rather odd experience for me, as I think you'll see in a moment when I get around to the actual story from today.

I have knit in front of strangers only a handful of times. I took my knitting to school twice that I can recall, both times during summer office hours when few people were around; no time and no room in my 80lb bookbag during the rest of the school year. And I was really good about not knitting at my previous job despite all the down time (although knitting was discussed*). Once, I knitted on the D.C. metro on the way home from work, but I was too engrossed in the lace pattern I was screwing up to notice if people were watching.

At the new job, a couple of coworkers have noticed me knitting at my desk on my lunch break and commented. I even got a "that's awesome" from a guy and guys usually don't think that stuff is awesome**. Today, I took my "Seat of my pants" sock (as I'm calling it) to an informational office meeting on the 401(k) plan. Caught a few odd stares, but whatever. Other people doodle, I knit. At least I'm being productive.

But the most interesting experiences so far have been on Max***, I think because it's with strangers. The Max portion of my daily commute is pretty short and space on the train is limited - esp. when you have to stand - but I find a sock to be manageable. So when I'm waiting for a train, or when I'm on the train and don't have to hold onto a strap for balance, I whip out my sock. But unlike when I knitted on the metro, I'm now watching to see if there is a reaction. There is.

Strange things happen when you knit around strangers, I've learned. Beyond the staring, people behave differently around knitting. I find they actually move closer, mostly without even realizing they are doing it. Not that I blame them for this - I would do the same thing. But today - today was the kicker.

I was on the train, knitting, leaning against the wall in a space used for hanging bikes that happened to be vacant when I got on. The train was it's usual mix of Portland - indescribable, but you know what I mean if you've been here - and standing a few feet away I noticed a girl: late teens/early twenties, a couple of piercings, and gorgeous blue-green manic panic dreads. She didn't seem to notice me though. At the Chinatown stop, a man with a bike got on, so I quickly packed in the sock and moved to the center to hold on to the post. As soon as I did, Ms. Blue Green Dreads turned to me with a smile and said:

"You were rocking that sock!"


I burst out laughing. It was so unbelievably cute and unexpected. I'm impressed she actually knew what it was - it's not much more than a toe at this point. Not quite sure how to reply, I just said "Thank you."

ETA: Two people came by my desk today to ask me about the sock I was knitting in the meeting yesterday. One of them said they have a little group in the office that does charity knitting around the holidays. She even keeps the stash for this in her desk and she said I could stop by and see it. :-) Desk stash, it's a good thing.

*Story #1: One of my bosses at my job in D.C. - her name was Laura - used to do a lot of knitting when she was my age and she was elated when she found out I was a knitter. She would bring in the sweaters she made in the 70's to show me. She even tried to teach the girl who replaced me to knit. I don't think that worked out. But anyway, the best Laura/knitting story is the one where she brought in the yarn she had a friend spin from the hair of the prize-winning Shelties she raised. It looked a lot like alpaca, but it smelled like dog. The fur had not been washed prior to spinning. The oils transfered to my hand when I touched it, and then my hand smelled like dog. It was awkward. I miss Laura, she was a wonderful woman and a great boss.

**Story #2 (apparently, I'm in a story-tellin' mood today): Matthew fell for me when he saw me knitting. Seriously. I was sitting in Faculty and Student Services, where I worked, knitting at the desk with my librarian-style reading glasses on. He literally stopped dead in his tracks as he was walking by. He asked if I had "changed". I looked at him like he was an idiot, and I took my glasses off. Then he said "Are you...knitting?!?" Another "are you daft?" look from me. He gave me a dopey smile, a chuckle, and then wandered off. The next day, he went in to see my boss (who was more of a good friend than a traditional boss) to inquire if I was single. Quality men appreciate the knitting.

***(I have been calling Max [Portland's light rail transit system] 'the Metro', and it has to stop. It's a hold-over from my years in D.C. and it makes me sound like a tourist. I grew up here, for cryin' out load.)

Actual progress on a project

It's been a while since you saw any, hasn't it?

A couple of weeks ago, I started the "Girl Tank" (I find the name amusing) from Classic Elite's Make it Modern. I got a bag of Elann.com Camila super cheap (discontinued color) and it's a good match for the project - 50% cotton and 50% linen makes it a good summer knitting yarn. It's a little stiff at first, but it softens up nicely when it is washed. The color I got - opal grey - is pretty meh, but it doesn't really bother me and I guess I could always dye it.

Here we are so far:


I cast on in the round instead of knitting flat - I couldn't take that the vertical garter stitch "stripes" were made on wrong side rows; I had trouble seeing them coming and I wasn't about to count every stitch. No seaming was a bonus.

I did what I thought was a pretty clever trick for creating the placket: on the 5 stitches that were to be the placket, I knit into the stitch below and then the stitch on the needle (5 sts became 10). Then I separated the stitches: the ones made from knitting below went on a separate needle for the front (buttonhole) band and the stitches made from knitting into the ones on the needle went on a needle to be knit with the other front as the button band. No attaching the bands later.

A few inches of top left and the some sleeves. But I've totally lost steam since getting new yarn. I'd rather be knitting socks.

Speaking of which - I frogged the toe-up Nutkins. The yarn is just too stretchy for this one - the yo's and ssk's we causing stitches to pull away from eachother and ruining the effect. Time to find another pattern, I guess. It will still be toe-up, though.

Is it wrong?

Is it wrong to spend one's first paycheck almost entirely on yarn? Because if so, I don't want to be right. (It was only 8 hours worth of pay, so it's not like I squandered the rent money.)

I love me some Yarn Garden. That's 5 balls of Reynolds Sunday Best in red, for a tank; a ball of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Stretch in cream, for some toe-up Nutkins; two balls of Meilenweit Seta/Cashmere in grey; a hank of Baruffa Cashwool in chocolate, for a shrug for Michelle (I don't want to hear a word about sensitivity to wool, girl, this stuff is like cashmere); and two balls of Galway worsted in grey and a ball of Ella Rae Classic in maroon melange (not purple, I assure you), for the Damask bag.

You will note, not a yard of it is blue, green, or purple. I'm very proud. (I also bought a bunch of new clothes for the new job last week and none of those were blue or purple, and only one sweater was green - kermit the frog green, which that site said would look good on me and they were right! Never would have guessed.)

Attention please. Achtung: This is my new favorite yarn.

Lana Grossa Meilenweit Seta/Cashmere

Go. Buy. Seriously. I mean it. It's the same price as Koigu PPPM or Lorna's Laces, but it's a silk and cashmere blend and it is WASHABLE. Oh, merciful heavens. I want to knit bedsheets out of this stuff so I can sleep in it. It would make the world's best socks, but this stuff is not destined to be socks. What will it be? Hmmm....

And finally, our mascot:

Sleepy squirrel napping in the sun

Knit night

Wow. I said that getting a job was going to cut in on the knitting time, but now I'm living it. It cuts in on time for everything else, too.

Anywho, knit night at CloseKnit tomorrow? 7ish? Anyone?

Friday morning observations

(Hat tip to my favorite new websites, ICanHasCheezburger and IHasAHotDog. Squirrel lovers, enjoy.)

• Funny how acquiring yarn sometimes only makes one feel the need for MORE yarn.
  
• Sometimes knitting kicks my butt. It's sticks and some string and I've been playing with them for years, but sometimes they still kick my butt. I can not get this stuff to cooperate with my design. I know what I want it to look like and it should totally be possible, but it is. not. working. Grrr.
  
• Elann's Bamboo Superwash (above) is very sproingy. And contrary to the ball band, I believe it is really a DK weight yarn. I get many more than 4.75 sts to the inch on size 6 needles, and I wouldn't say that I'm a particularly tight knitter. It looks (and drapes) much better than at the recommended gauge. It is very soft and silky and I like it.
  
• The Camila I bought in Opal Grey is the same color as my Pearl Malabrigo Trellis Scarf.
  
• That last sentence likely would make NO sense whatsoever to someone who doesn't knit.
• The drummer for the Killers is awesome. "All These Things That I've Done" makes me want to learn to play drums. You should listen to it for the drumline (at full volume of course, that's my method). Not technically knitting related, but I didn't promise all knitting related observations.
• Edited to add: Everyone, go to this site and check out your colors. Very handy. Courtesy of Jan from the comments to the last post.
  

Add it to the list

I've just experienced an epiphany: 25 out of my 44 projects on Ravelry are either blue, green, or purple. If that degree I have in Math serves me right, that is over 50%. This isn't the universe of things I've knitted, but it does span 4 years, and I can think of many additional projects I've made that are one of these three colors. Rut, anyone?

So, in addition to completing the projects on what I'm calling my Knitter's Challenge, I'm adding the condition that no project can be more than 25% blue, green, and purple.* (Notice, that's the union, not the intersection. A project can't be 25% blue, 25% green, and 25% purple; the sum of the blue and/or green and/or purple has to be to less than 25%.) I would ban these colors all together, except that I have fair-isle (and probably some intarsia) on the list and one of these colors may be necessary. I'm really going to have to learn which shades of red, orange and yellow look good with pink skin.

This new condition means that the toe-up baby socks I have been working on won't count toward the challenge, but I didn't really intend that anyway. I just wanted some practice before I start a full size pair.

(They are the Better-than-Booties Baby Socks (braided cable version) from Interweave Knits.) I used the Eastern cast-on and toe shaping instructions from the Summer 2007 Interweave Knits' article on toe-up socks. The toe came out a bit stumpy, and I should have used size 0 needles instead of size 1 (forgot about that), but whatever. Good practice. I'd like to try some different toe and heel styles, just for variety.

Also, I filled up a shopping cart at Knitpicks.com with the stuff it would take to make two of the projects on the list and it came to $130. Yeah for jobs. (I did not actually buy the stuff. It's going to take a pay check or ten before I can take that large of a pry bar to my wallet.)

*Number 3, writing up a pattern with multiple sizes that involves set-in sleeves, doesn't technically involve knitting, it's about writing, so the associated project can be one of the colors that are off limits. Also, I already ordered the yarn and it's green. But - it's a much lighter, yellowy green than I usually go for. Progress, I think.

Less time for knitting

In the intro to Honeycomb, I mentioned that I would "soon be returning to work." At the time I wrote it, it was just wishful thinking - Matthew and I were still in Bend, but knew we had to move yet again, and I would have to go through another job search in a new city. I was hoping that by the time the pattern was published I would already have something lined up; but to hedge my bets, I wrote the sentence in future tense. And, as it happened, I still did not have a job when it was published.

Just a week after I showed you how I wear Honeycomb as a house frau, I got a job offer. In fact, I got the voicemail about interviewing for the position when I came downstairs from taking those photos.

Pros of getting a job:
1) no more hanging around the house (hoorah!)
2) money with which to buy new yarn (and all sort of other things)
3) someplace to wear nice handknits

Cons of getting a job:
1) less time for knitting (boooooo!)
2) um..... sorry I really can't think of anymore because I'm so excited to have a reason to leave the house.

If knitting could pay my bills, I would sit around and do it all day long. But getting a "real" job doesn't mean I won't still find tons of time to knit. Trust me. I'll just have to cut out some Ravelry time instead (so necessary at this point, I should put it on the Pros list).

In celebration, I bought yarn. Lots of yarn. (Lots for me is 20 balls of Elann.com Bamboo Superwash and a bag of Camila.) I am impatiently awaiting its arrival.

Tangled Yoke Cardigan

(I can't believe I composed this over three months ago and it took me that long to get pictures. Not even good pictures. Ridiculous.)

Me and a Eunny Jang pattern are finally getting along! I love her designs, but I had to knit the border of the Print shawl three times and this sweater twice (my fault on that one though). But I love the finished product, very versatile.


Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits, 34" bust
Yarn: I'd guess 7 balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed DK in a purple color
Needles: US size 4
Comments: Once I got the correct gauge, everything went smoothly (it's still a bit big though). I did not do the doubled neckband. I tried once. It didn't work for me - the picking up of stitches on the bumps, the heavyness of it - too much. I just knit about 6 rows and bound off.

Stuff I need to try

I think it's time to challenge myself with the knitting. Here is a list of things I've been thinking I need to attempt in the near future.

1. Toe-up socks. These seem like a really good idea to me - easier to try on as you go, you can use up all the yarn, adjust for fat calves in progress, etc. Pattern suggestions are welcome.

2.1. A large fair-isle project. With more than two colors.

2.2. Steeks.

3. Writing up a pattern with multiple sizes that involves set-in sleeves. I think this one is coming whether I like it or not.

4. A Shirley Paden project.

5. Gloves.

6. A bag. I'm talking more intense than the felted clutch. Possibly involving a little intarsia and felting.

7. Entrelac. Perhaps Eunny Jang's Entrelac Socks from last year's spring Interweave Knits.

8. Double Knitting, as in reversible. See here. I'm thinking this may be a good way to reinforce knits, especially when using fine yarns, but I need to learn more.

Maybe I'll make it my goal to do all these by the end of the year. (Sorry, I just realized how wishy-washy that "maybe" was. I'm committing now.)

A couple of things

Not sure which to go with first. How about Knit Night?

I went to an opening knitting night last night at a yarn shop! First time doing such a thing, and it was fun! I'm still no good at "meeting people" - you know, properly introducing myself to strangers and striking up a conversation - but I knew one person, who I met on Ravelry last week, so I had someone to talk with. Thanks Brooke! I do wish, however, that I had taken a more enjoyable project. I didn't want to take anything too complicated, and I need to finish the lace at the bottom of the Surplice Bodice Top I've been avoiding because it is so monotonous, so I took that. But I would knit a few rounds and then think "I HATE KNITTING THIS THING" and have to put it down to go look at yarn. I ended up taking several breaks. (It was also a new shop for me, so there was extra incentive to get the lay of the land.) I ended up buying only one thing, despite some longing for sock yarn: the new Make It Modern from Classic Elite. I feel like that line is really coming together since Pam Allen took over. Love her designs.

Numero dos: Maybe goes without saying, but if you make either Trudie or Honeycomb, send me pics! Or a link to pics. I'd love to see them. 'Specially if you aren't on Ravelry. Ravelry people, I'm watching you like a hawk. It's fun to see little Honeycomb twins coming together, all slightly different. (You can e-mail if you don't want to leave something in the comments; my e-mail address is linked at the end of the pattern.)

I guess that's all for now. Very close to being done with both Modern Lace and the Surplice Top. Pics soon, I hope.

Honeycomb at home

I really do hope to be able to wear this vest to work at some point, but that will require an actual job (other than blogger, which pays zilch), which I don't have right now. So this is how Honeycomb gets worn for now.


Very comfy, and I feel a bit stylish (rather than feeling like a bum with no job, which is the norm).

This photo was taken in my lair (I will show you my lair sometime, it is very cool). It is the only place in the house with enough light - even on a cloudy day - to get a good picture with no flash.


Foamy would like you to taste his squirrelly wrath. And a delicious blend of green and white teas.