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.

Knitters are good people

Well, heck. I almost don't know what to say... but I actually do, and it's that knitters are some really fine people. Other people, people who undoubtedly don't knit, say mean, uncalled-for things when you harmlessly pull around them at the gas station to get to the next pump when their gas is already pumping. (I was having a really shitty day on Sunday and he actually made me cry. True story.) But a knitter? A knitter would never do that. Knitters are the kind of people who will take the time out of their busy day to say something nice to another person, probably someone they have never met.

As I type, Honeycomb is now in 675 people's queues,* 205 favorites lists, and 3 versions are already in progress on Ravelry. (Non-Ravelry folk, I do not mean to imply that Ravelry is the knitting universe, much as it may seem that way once you are an addict. But it is a damned interesting metric.) I'm really pleased that so many people like the design and are looking forward to knitting it. I sincerely hope you all enjoy it, both the knitting part and the wearing part. I know, realistically, that every pattern ends up being frogged and cursed by someone - need I remind anyone of Print o' the Waves - so in the end, the compliments aren't really what gets me. What has really made my day is seeing how many people are kind and open enough to share their enthusiasm and just plain old say something nice. The "getting connected" thing I was talking about has started happening, and it is really good so far.

So. Thank you.

*A queue means something different to everyone. For me, it's a list of the stuff I really intend to make soon; the rest goes in my faves. Some people have hundreds of things in their queues and may get to one of them in a couple of years or never.

Honeycomb

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, this is an exciting day. Honeycomb has been published! (I have never been so on the edge of my chair for a new Knitty. For the last week, I've been checking the website obsessively just in case I didn't get the usual e-mail notification.)


To anyone who knits this piece up, please, of course, feel free to contact me with any questions or errors in the pattern. The technical editor polished it up nicely, but you never know.

A short story about the photos of this piece:

They were taken at the Abbey Library at the Mt. Angel Monastery. It's a lovely piece of architecture designed by Alvar Aalto. We were visiting my mom in Silverton over Christmas, I wanted pictures of the sweater in a setting that looked semi-office-like, and Matthew suggested the library, which he had visited as an art student. The library was fairly deserted that Friday morning, but I was still concerned about being seen having my picture taken.* (I wouldn't make it 5 minutes as a professional model, even if I didn't look funny.)

I was trying to be as surreptitious as possible, but Matthew - in full photographer mode and having borrowed my mom's high-falutin' camera with the ginormous lens - was doing things like lying on the floor in a public library to take the photos. Austin Powers has nothing on Matthew. So as he is lying on the floor and I'm trying to stand still with a normal look on my face, we get noticed by Br. Brian Hepner.

Trying to pretend like nothing is going on


Caught

Br. Hepner asked if Matthew, still on the ground, was taking photos of the architecture. Matthew and I exchanged a look, not sure whether to just say yes, or explain about the sweater. We decided on the truth - I had knit the sweater, made a pattern, and was submitting it for publication. Br. Hepner looked a bit puzzled by it all, but smiled kindly and let us go about our business.

As we were walking out, I noticed a small auditorium off to the side. We walked in to check it out, and there was Br. Hepner again. We told him that this time we really were interested in the architecture. Then he asked if we would like to see the rare book room.

Behind a bank vault door disguised with wood paneling was a small room containing a couple of thousand leather- and vellum-bound books. Br. Hepner explained how the Abbey had acquired most of the books, and pulled out three of the collection's finest pieces to show us. The first was a handprinted and illustrated book of hours; the second was a handprinted Bible from the 1200's with miniscule text.

The third was a large Bible with press-printed text and hand illustrations from the late 1400's. He insisted that the sweater have its picture taken with this book.

Sweater, meet Bible

So, in the end, being seen having my picture taken in a library was an excellent experience. I recommend visiting the Abbey; the whole place is really beautiful and the people are delightful.

*Oy. All this shyness and skulking is becoming a theme for me lately. I have got to suck it up and stop being a big chicken. Good things happen when I meet people.

Floyd

I knit all the pieces for Zoe Mellor's Floppy Dog more than a month ago, but when it came to sewing on the limbs... Well, that part sucks, so I left it until today, when I didn't have much to do and decided to just finish it already. I think I'll call him Floyd.


Details:
Yarn: Katia Austral in cream, less than 1 ball, and a small amount of the same in tan for spots
Pattern: Floppy Dog from Zoe Mellor's Knitted Toys
Needles: US Size 3
Modifications: Made one of his ears tan. Feet and arms knit in the round.

Zoe Mellor toys tend to have a lot of seams - I think she tries to write for all skill levels, which means no knitting in the round. But it makes the construction a pain in the ass. The ears were particularly bad. And there aren't many useful pictures in the book. The designs are so cute, it's a pity the directions aren't written for someone who is more experienced. It could be a good opportunity for new knitters to learn techniques on small projects.

PS - I'm getting better at intarsia, but it's not getting anymore fun.