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.

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.

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

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.

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.)