Felting

Ah, yes, Erein reminded me that I did a little needle felting and forgot to post about it. The book I have doesn't have much on needle felting with roving, it's mostly about felting with yarn, and techniques for needle felting with a sewing machine. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, and the results we so-so.


The bag was felted in the washing machine, but the blue swirly thing was needle-felted on. The center looked a little sloppy, so I slapped some buttons on it for camo.

Details:
Yarn: for bag - Paton's Classic Merino in Aran, maybe 50 grams.
for felting - wool roving
Pattern: Clutch from One Skein
Needles: US size 15

The clutch pattern is really great though, I recommend it.

SneakySquirrel

I suppose if I'm going to ask you if you are on Ravelry, the least I could do is give you my username (above). See you on the flip side.

Trellis scarf and hemlock ring hankie

Latest finished objects! The Trellis scarf:

Details:
Yarn: Malabrigo Laceweight in Pearl, less than a full skein
Pattern: Trellis Scarf by Evelyn Clark in the Spring 2006 IK
Needles: US size 4 circular (with pointy tips)
Modifications: Not many - just added some lace repeats to make it longer - it's probably about 4 feet long.

It is so. very. soft. I bought the yarn on a whim for the feel of it. But it's cheap! Only about $9. Go buy it. Lots of it. As I said before, the 7 into 5 clusters were a pain, but about half way though I got the hang of purling really loosely the row before which really helped.

And the Hemlock Ring hankie:

Details:
Yarn: leftover Malabrigo, maybe a quarter of the skein
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Doily
Needles: US size 1 dpns
Modifications: I only got to about row 60 of the pattern before the yarn ran out. But it's still quite pretty.

This pattern is quite popular as the Hemlock Ring Blanket, for obvious reasons. I would still like to make a large version at some point, but I needed a pattern to use up the laceweight and I wanted to make something heirloom-like.

Anybody else on Ravelry?

I gave in and joined after hearing about it for months, not really knowing what it would be. It's quite interesting.

I've been thinking lately about getting more connected to other knitters (and the general community of Portland, actually). Knitting has always been sort of private for me - not that I don't like to share it, the blog is proof of that. But I've never felt the need for any company. Actually, that can't be true either, because I read tons of knitting blogs, and I feel connected to those people, they just don't know it. Damn shyness.

I participated in a knitting group for charity last weekend, but it was a bit of a disappointment. Not many people showed up, and the ones who did didn't seem very interested in getting to know one another. There also wasn't any feeling of connection to the people we were making things for. Got me thinking about what one could do differently to make it a better experience for the knitter and the receiver. If I knew some more knitters, I would attempt to get the ball rolling. Which brings me back to needing to connect with other knitters.

I have one friend so far on Ravelry, and unlike my usual blog skulking, I got caught! I searched for people in Portland and came up with pages and pages of people, none of who I know (of course), except for Marnie, whose blog I have been reading for years. Not even sure how I found it originally, although she has published a number of patterns, so maybe that's how I came across her in the first place. So I clicked and added her as a "friend." I wasn't sure whether it was like Facebook or something where the person had to confirm they knew you, but no message to that effect showed up when I clicked. A few hours later, I was checking Ravelry and there was a message: "Marnie has added you as a friend." Caught! I got caught! I thought I was skulking and I totally wasn't. Apparently, it sends a message to whoever you add as a friend. At first, I was mortified about getting caught, but then I realized: I have a "friend." I'm connected, however weakly, to another knitter. Which is good.

Alright, rambling over. I'm not sure whether to bother adding all my old projects to Ravelry or to just start with the stuff I'm knitting now. My page looks really bare. But it would require putting all photos on flickr and filling in all the details that are already on the blog. Perhaps if I'm bored some weekend.

Icarus

Like a phoenix, the Austermann Pharaoh has resurrected itself after the Print O' the Waves disaster. It is now the Icarus Shawl. I can't get decent pictures of this to save my life - Oregon is grey grey grey and cold cold cold this time of year so indoor photos turn out too flashy or blurry and outdoor photos are out of the question (yes it's 50 degrees and not 20, but I'm a big baby, so :-P).

But the shawl is really nice, take my word for it.

Details:
Yarn: Austermann Pharaoh in tan, 4 balls
Pattern: Icarus Shawl from IK Summer 2006 (and Best of IK, I hear)
Needles: US size 4 circular
Modifications: I had to leave out one repeat of the "body" of the shawl - it was clear I was going to run out of yarn. I think I have about 10 yards left in the end. I also wasn't liking how the last few rows of edging were coming out and the damn photos in the magazine were so blurry I couldn't figure out what they were supposed to look like. So I did a couple of rows of garter stitch and added some yarn overs to encourage the points, then blocked the hell out of them. Not as pointy as the original, but fine with me.

I like this thing. Will I ever wear it? Eh, who knows, but the important thing is that I didn't have a fit and throw it in the fire, as I was about to do with the Print O' the Waves. I consider that success.

Monkey

I will admit that the first couple of hundred times I saw these socks on people's blogs, I didn't really see the attraction. They looked nice, but they aren't the Twisted Flower socks (by the same designer) or anything. But at some point, I got it. The stitch pattern isn't complex, but it is pleasing and, best of all, it works well for variegated sock yarn. Not a lot of patterns can say that. In fact, when I got this Meillenweit Bosco and first cast on, it was for a pair of Cablenets. A very nice pattern, but it just didn't work with the dark, multicolored yarn. But Monkey was perfect.


Details:
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meillenweit Bosco in a dark purple and lavender colorway, one 100g ball.
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. in the Winter 2006 Knitty
Needles: US size 1 dpns
Comments: With the combination of a) having cast on 72 sts for Cablenet socks and worked an inch of 1x1 rib, b) not being able to find my size 2 dpns and c) having fat little calves, I stuck with the 72 sts (instead of 64) and just added 2 sts to each repeat. This meant I also worked the rib plain instead of twisted. I worked two pattern repeats like this, then decreased 4 sts, then worked another repeat and decreased another 4 sts, ending up with the original 64.
I added one repeat before starting the heel flap. I worked my gusset decreases one stitch in from the instep, rather than next to the instep, which fits better with the toe decreases, I think. It's a good thing I didn't use size 2's, because the socks would have been way to big.



They are super comfy! But despite increasing the size at the top of the sock, my calves are still fat enough that they slide down a bit. Damn genetics!

It's been a while since I knit a pair of socks and it was a really nice change of pace. I have issues with knitting socks - the usual "why knit them for $16/pair when you can buy them for $2" - but I'm trying to get over it. As the Yarn Harlot pointed out: it probably took 20 hours to knit these socks, so that's less than $1/hour for 20 really enjoyable hours and I got a nice pair of socks at the end. I've been wearing them regularly around the house too, so they don't just sit in the sock drawer.

Tyrolean Stockings

These are awesome! They are so comfortable. Except for the fact that it's DK weight yarn and standing on the purl bumps is not great. But if you are sitting - awesome!




Pattern: Tyrolean Stockings from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits
Yarn: about 3 balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed DK, leftover from Tangled Yoke
Needles: US size 4
Comments: Had to eliminate one repeat of leg (I'm a shorty). It's unfortunate the yarn in not machine washable; it makes them a bit less practical. But they're nice.

And look how cute, some baby stockings:


I adapted the pattern (same needle size just fewer stitches) to use up leftover yarn, and I STILL have some left. I can't get rid of this stuff. I totally guessed at the sizing - I told Matthew we need to have a kid so I have something to measure.

Cobweb knitting

I bought a skein of the Malabrigo Laceweight on a whim at the Yarn Garden because of the swatch hanging by it - absolutely gorgeous. It's merino singles, hand-dyed in Pearl the palest pinks and greys.


This yarn is exactly what I would imagine knitting with cobwebs would be like. Not cobweb weight yarn, actual cobwebs. That may not sound great, and it's certainly a little nerve-wracking, but it's sort of cool. I thought very carefully about what I wanted to make with this yarn before I started, because there is no going back. No frogging this stuff because the fibers stick to each other and it would be very easy to break the strand. I'm lucky if I can tink it. But there is no going back now.


I chose the Trellis scarf by Evelyn Clark from Interweave. It only calls for 440 yards of laceweight and it's fairly simple, except for the whole 7-into-5-cluster thing. Knit 7 together, leave them on the needle, yo, knit the same seven together again, leave them on the needle, yo, knit the same seven together AGAIN and slip them off the needle. Oy. I had to switch from the bamboo to metal needles because the bamboo tips weren't pointy enought, but the metal ones aren't much better. I dread every first and ninth row of the lace pattern. But it makes the most be-yoooo-tiful stitch.

I killed the Print o' the Waves stole

In keeping with the "new year, new start" theme (I killed a houseplant too), I took it apart and rewound the yarn. I look forward to making something else with it.

The end of another knitting year

A couple of year ago, I made some knitting resolutions for New Years, most of which I've broken since (most notably the washable yarn one). There are really no resolutions for this year, other than to make sure that the things I'm making are things I love. That means 1) no knitting obligatory Christmas gifts (they haven't been obligatory in the past, but I have been a little unrealistic about time investment) and 2) if I don't love what I'm knitting (for whatever reason), I rip it back and start over. Most of the stuff that sits unfinished for a long time is stuff I just don't like. (That includes you, Print o' the Waves Stole.)

In seasonal knitting news, I received Knitting Rules! by the Yarn Harlot for Christmas. This book solves a huge conundrum for me - people sometimes ask what books I've read lately and then look at me funny when I say I don't read anymore, I knit. Sorry, but it's the truth. It's not that I don't love reading - I really do, and I used to do a lot of it - but I'd just rather knit, so much so that I've given up one hobby entirely in favor of the other. But this past week, I read Knitting Rules! from cover to cover in a couple of days. How great is this - a book about knitting! And, like, not a pattern book. The Yarn Harlot is entertaining as always, and it's nice to hear someone else's thoughts on all things knitting. Considering I don't belong to any knitting circles, blog rings, or have many (currently) knitting friends, I don't get that very often.

I also stopped by the Yarn Garden when we were in Portland and got some new yarn with my Christmas money. A ball of socks yarn that is half way to being a pair of Monkeys, 3 balls of Classic Elite Classic Silk for the Coquette Lace Tube Top, a ball of Berroco Comfort for a Koolhaus Hat, and a skein of Malabrigo Laceweight for a scarf of some kind.

Happy New (Knitting) Year!