I've been having one of those weeks in which I knit a lot, but produce very little. I keep trying different cable patterns for gloves, but I can't find a yarn/cable combo that I like. (Except for my current pair of gift gloves. I finished the left glove on Tuesday and am quite happy with it.) I can't even knit socks decisively this week -- I want some ornamentation on the socks I'm knitting out of the birthday yarn from Lyl, but nothing I try is making me happy. Yesterday I finally got a project moving -- my Sloochie hat -- but I had to spend over half an hour ripping back to fix stupid mistakes.
I've been taking some refuge in spinning. I wound off some singles to free up a couple of spindles and played around with various roving/spindle combinations. I wound the singles for Buttercup & Berries onto the plying spindle and started plying. I started Zaria2, which is going to be a 3-ply light fingering weight, and Fan the Flames, which is going to be a 3-ply worsted.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
cables - the basic rules
I'm knitting my third pair of Stulpen gloves, and I've figured out a few things about cables and working with cable charts.
For all the cables I've worked thus far, you always
1. Knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.
2. Pass knit stitches over purl stitches.
Huh. So if I highlight all of the symbols that indicate a front cross, I can glance at the chart to see if I'm crossing in front or behind, and the cable tells me everything else. A doorway of comprehension has opened in my brain!
For all the cables I've worked thus far, you always
1. Knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.
2. Pass knit stitches over purl stitches.
Huh. So if I highlight all of the symbols that indicate a front cross, I can glance at the chart to see if I'm crossing in front or behind, and the cable tells me everything else. A doorway of comprehension has opened in my brain!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
my first handspun hat!
I made a hat out of my handspun! I'm so excited! It's another Aveline hat, using my first handspun of 2009.
I started with superwash merino roving (colorway 'hot') from http://juliespins.etsy.com.
It became a 3-ply.
The unblocked hat.
On the blocking balloon.
Finished! It's soft and smooshy and gorgeous!
I started with superwash merino roving (colorway 'hot') from http://juliespins.etsy.com.
It became a 3-ply.
The unblocked hat.
On the blocking balloon.
Finished! It's soft and smooshy and gorgeous!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
defeated by fingers -- why?
When I knit my first pair of fingerless gloves/biker gloves, I was so proud and excited. I envisioned knitting gloves for my friends and people actually told me they would welcome such a thing.
Little did I know that would be the first and only time I managed to do fingers well. I tried for months in 2007 to make another pair, and I just couldn't get the goddamned fingers to flow from the body of the glove. I tried winging it, I tried following patterns, I tried different yarn and needle sizes, and I just couldn't do it. I can't be having with fingers that stick out randomly, or bunch the fabric, or don't lie flat when the glove is lying on a table. Standards, I have them. And they make me crazy. (Sometimes I think I have standards solely to punish myself for failing to meet them.)
Making fingers just grow out of the body of a glove is one of those things that seem like it should be easy.
And yet, as simple as it seems, in practice, not so much. I got so fed up in 2007 that I didn't even TRY in 2008. In December, I cast on a pair of knucks, because they are knit from the fingers down. I've worked a pair before to test it, and it worked beautifully. I figure that if I can master top-down construction, it will help me reverse-engineer the process so I can figure out how to knit fingers from the body of the glove. I haven't touched them, though, because I remember how bloody defeated the last attempt at fingers made me feel.
Sigh. I need to work on them, though. I need to conquer this ridiculous problem, because I want a drawerful of gorgeous gloves for me and I want to knit some for friends. Fingerless mittens have been a nice stopgap measure, and I think I'd be more apt to give those as gifts because the fit is easier to manage, but damn it, I want biker gloves, and I want a lot of them!
Little did I know that would be the first and only time I managed to do fingers well. I tried for months in 2007 to make another pair, and I just couldn't get the goddamned fingers to flow from the body of the glove. I tried winging it, I tried following patterns, I tried different yarn and needle sizes, and I just couldn't do it. I can't be having with fingers that stick out randomly, or bunch the fabric, or don't lie flat when the glove is lying on a table. Standards, I have them. And they make me crazy. (Sometimes I think I have standards solely to punish myself for failing to meet them.)
Making fingers just grow out of the body of a glove is one of those things that seem like it should be easy.
- Divide the sts on the back of the hand by 4, jigger the numbers so the index and middle fingers have more sts, eyeball it. Once satisfied, place stitch markers and divide the palm sts using the same numbers.
- Move pinkie sts to dpns. Knit to pinkie. Using new yarn, knit the pinkie in the round, casting on a few sts between it and the ring finger to make a tube. Knit, bind off, weave in ends.
- Using your main ball of yarn, pick up stitches between the ring finger and pinkie and resume knitting in the round. Knit a couple of rows to stabilize the cast-on stitches.
- Using new yarn, knit the ring finger, picking up sts between the ring and middle fingers. Knit and bind off.
- Using new yarn, knit the middle finger, picking up sts between the ring and middle fingers and between the middle and index fingers. Knit and bind off.
- Using main yarn, knit index finger, picking up sts between the middle and index fingers. Knit and bind off.
And yet, as simple as it seems, in practice, not so much. I got so fed up in 2007 that I didn't even TRY in 2008. In December, I cast on a pair of knucks, because they are knit from the fingers down. I've worked a pair before to test it, and it worked beautifully. I figure that if I can master top-down construction, it will help me reverse-engineer the process so I can figure out how to knit fingers from the body of the glove. I haven't touched them, though, because I remember how bloody defeated the last attempt at fingers made me feel.
Sigh. I need to work on them, though. I need to conquer this ridiculous problem, because I want a drawerful of gorgeous gloves for me and I want to knit some for friends. Fingerless mittens have been a nice stopgap measure, and I think I'd be more apt to give those as gifts because the fit is easier to manage, but damn it, I want biker gloves, and I want a lot of them!
king of the idiot savants
Sometimes, such as when a friend hands me knitting to fix, I feel like a knitting rockstar. I sure as hell don't know how to do everything, but I'm confident that I can learn anything I want to. (Except, it seems, how to deal with fucking laceweight without having a brain hemorrhage.)
Sometimes, however, I feel like a goddamned IDIOT who should just sell off all her supplies and twiddle her thumbs for a hobby. I was working on another Aveline hat, this one made out of my own handspun. Somewhere around the third row of the crown decreases, I realized something had gone wrong a few rows back. The nice
Here's what it's supposed to look like. From left to right: a k3, k2tog, yo, k2 sequence that alternates rows with plain knitting.
See? Perfectly goddamned simple, right? I had gorked something up between the k2tog and the yo a few rows back, so all I should have to do would be to drop the k2tog and the yo back the the original screwup, and knit the two stitches back up. IT TOOK AT LEAST HALF AN HOUR. I don't know what kind of idiot possessed my brain last night, but I couldn't get it right. I couldn't find the problem. Instead of a nice ladder of yarn waiting to be picked up and reknit, I had a crossed ladder, and I couldn't seem to see where the problem originated from. I glared at it and swore, and ripped back further, and finally realized there was a problem one stitch to the left and ripped THAT down and finally I had a neat uncrossed ladder of yarn and 3 stitches waiting to be picked up. Of course, I forgot the first crown increase, and had to rip back and fix that, but FINALLY it was fixed and looked indistinguishable from any other repeat.
I would just like to know WHY something perfectly simple took so long to fix -- a yo followed by a k2tog? Why was that hard? Why did I have to work so hard to fix it?
Sometimes, however, I feel like a goddamned IDIOT who should just sell off all her supplies and twiddle her thumbs for a hobby. I was working on another Aveline hat, this one made out of my own handspun. Somewhere around the third row of the crown decreases, I realized something had gone wrong a few rows back. The nice
Here's what it's supposed to look like. From left to right: a k3, k2tog, yo, k2 sequence that alternates rows with plain knitting.
See? Perfectly goddamned simple, right? I had gorked something up between the k2tog and the yo a few rows back, so all I should have to do would be to drop the k2tog and the yo back the the original screwup, and knit the two stitches back up. IT TOOK AT LEAST HALF AN HOUR. I don't know what kind of idiot possessed my brain last night, but I couldn't get it right. I couldn't find the problem. Instead of a nice ladder of yarn waiting to be picked up and reknit, I had a crossed ladder, and I couldn't seem to see where the problem originated from. I glared at it and swore, and ripped back further, and finally realized there was a problem one stitch to the left and ripped THAT down and finally I had a neat uncrossed ladder of yarn and 3 stitches waiting to be picked up. Of course, I forgot the first crown increase, and had to rip back and fix that, but FINALLY it was fixed and looked indistinguishable from any other repeat.
I would just like to know WHY something perfectly simple took so long to fix -- a yo followed by a k2tog? Why was that hard? Why did I have to work so hard to fix it?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
plying, blooming
I think one of these days soon I'm going to spin some singles, Navajo ply them, and play around with how much twist I add. (I chain in one step and then add twist.) I want to ply one length the way I usually do -- eyeball it and guess. Then I want to overply one length and underply another.
I want to run this little science experiment because I don't know how much my yarn will bloom when I wash/whack it, and I'm getting to a point where I'm not content to be surprised. Take my last yarn, Hot. I started knitting a hat with it tonight, and while I'm not unhappy with it, I wonder if it would have bloomed more if I had added a bit less twist. (Or it could have been limp and lifeless.) On the other hand, if I had added more twist, I think I might have ended up with a still-soft but firm and sturdy yarn. (Or it could have been wire.)
I'm going to run this experiment using SW merino, since that is what I work with most often. I'd really like to be able to produce a 3 or 4 ply worsted that is round and soft and smooshy, and the bloom is what makes it smooshy.
For Ravelry members, the first post in this thread on blooming is what prompted my interest. Look at the before/after pictures!
I want to run this little science experiment because I don't know how much my yarn will bloom when I wash/whack it, and I'm getting to a point where I'm not content to be surprised. Take my last yarn, Hot. I started knitting a hat with it tonight, and while I'm not unhappy with it, I wonder if it would have bloomed more if I had added a bit less twist. (Or it could have been limp and lifeless.) On the other hand, if I had added more twist, I think I might have ended up with a still-soft but firm and sturdy yarn. (Or it could have been wire.)
I'm going to run this experiment using SW merino, since that is what I work with most often. I'd really like to be able to produce a 3 or 4 ply worsted that is round and soft and smooshy, and the bloom is what makes it smooshy.
For Ravelry members, the first post in this thread on blooming is what prompted my interest. Look at the before/after pictures!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
lyl's 5-rib mitts
I knit these fingerless mitts for Lyl's birthday.
I used Barbara Walker’s Loose 5 Rib Braid from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I knit them to fit Lyl's hands, and they do! HOORAY!!!
I used Barbara Walker’s Loose 5 Rib Braid from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I knit them to fit Lyl's hands, and they do! HOORAY!!!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
cables
Last night I finished my 3rd pair of cabled mitts, and I've been going through Barbara Walker's First & Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, trying to decide on my next cable pattern. Evidently, cables are addictive. I now have to buy Cables Untangled, because this Ravelry project uses a stitch from it.
For someone who really doesn't like cables, I'm getting awfully interested in them.
For someone who really doesn't like cables, I'm getting awfully interested in them.
Monday, February 2, 2009
the magic of blocking
I was thrilled with my merino/silk Aveline hat before it was blocked.
In fact, I contemplated leaving it alone, because I was slightly afraid I'd fuck it up in the blocking process. I've never actually blocked anything before -- I mainly knit socks. But I figured, people block for a reason, so let's do it. I carefully soaked the hat in Eucalan, squeezed out the excess water, and pulled it over a roll of paper towels that I had wrapped a towel around.
And it is breathtaking!
I get it now! Look at the way the eyelets opened up, and look at the soft drape the fabric has now! I cannot WAIT to finish my Strangling Vine scarf and Leaf Lace shawl so I can block them!
In fact, I contemplated leaving it alone, because I was slightly afraid I'd fuck it up in the blocking process. I've never actually blocked anything before -- I mainly knit socks. But I figured, people block for a reason, so let's do it. I carefully soaked the hat in Eucalan, squeezed out the excess water, and pulled it over a roll of paper towels that I had wrapped a towel around.
And it is breathtaking!
I get it now! Look at the way the eyelets opened up, and look at the soft drape the fabric has now! I cannot WAIT to finish my Strangling Vine scarf and Leaf Lace shawl so I can block them!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
finished - Curio's stulpen gloves
This is my 3rd finished project and 1st gift knitting for 2009. These are Curio's stulpen gloves. I wasn't too happy with the fabric this produced, but he liked it, and that's what's important.
Friday, January 30, 2009
2008: celebration of socks
11 pair of socks in 2008! Hee! I only managed 2 in 2007! 9 for me, 2 for others. Not bad at all, especially when you consider how much of my time I spent spinning this year!
my first hat!
It's an Aveline Slouchy hat in MadelineTosh Pastoral chamomile. It's so beautiful! I ordered a skein of MadelineTosh sock in chamomile so I can make matching gloves, because I plan to wear this a lot.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
charting
I am addicting to charts -- so addicted that I make my own in Excel. Tonight I charted out the pattern for my next fingerless gloves.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
1st finished knitting of 2009!
I cast these on January 3rd and finished them January 7th! Stulpen fingerless mitts.
Note the wild rainbow blanket? That is a gift from Badcat, who made it for me! Isn't it awesome? It's the only reason I stayed warm on Monday afternoon when the power was off!
Note the wild rainbow blanket? That is a gift from Badcat, who made it for me! Isn't it awesome? It's the only reason I stayed warm on Monday afternoon when the power was off!
1st finished yarn of 2009!
Hot SW merino roving from http://juliespins.etsy.com. 3-ply, 141 yards.
Hot - Roving
Plying
Plied
Washed/Whacked
Hot - Roving
Plying
Plied
Washed/Whacked
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
fingers of stupidity
I can't knit for shit today. Everything I touch turns to frogging. So I spent the evening updating my stash on Ravelry.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
christmas trip knitting
I took 2 knitting bags to Tulsa. I had no idea which new projects I'd want to start, so I took all of them.
I almost finished Lockhart's Melted Crayon socks. I love them, and if she hates them, I'll keep them and knit her another pair. I almost finished one leg while playing games with Mom and Sis on Christmas Eve. I think my multitasking impressed them. (Sis won Scattergories, Mom kicked our asses at Scrabble, and I won TWO games of Trivial Pursuit! I never win!)
I cast on the Aveline hat, using buttercup yellow merino/silk from MadeleineTosh. It uses a waste yarn long-tail tubular cast-on, which would be the perfect foundation for ribbing or double knitting. I used size 5s, and the brim was too tight. I need to go up at least 1 needle size.
I cast on the Sloochy hat, using the wild worsted from The Accidental Knitter on size 8 needles. I think the fabric is a little too firm, so I'm going to try size 9s.
I got a good start on the Strangling Vine Lace Scarf, using J.Knits Superwash Me Light Sock. This is GORGEOUS, I can't imagine how wonderful it's going to be when it's finished and blocked. I've had to rip back a ridiculous number of times because I kept inserting a stitch in the same damn place, but I rewrote the pattern notes to make it easier to track.
And finally, Sis gave me sock yarn for Christmas -- red/purple for me, and pink/grey to make socks for her. She mentioned that she'd like mittens, and I asked her "With or without fingers?". Evidently, to non-knitters, that is the most nonsensical question ever asked. I'm talking gales of laughter.
I almost finished Lockhart's Melted Crayon socks. I love them, and if she hates them, I'll keep them and knit her another pair. I almost finished one leg while playing games with Mom and Sis on Christmas Eve. I think my multitasking impressed them. (Sis won Scattergories, Mom kicked our asses at Scrabble, and I won TWO games of Trivial Pursuit! I never win!)
I cast on the Aveline hat, using buttercup yellow merino/silk from MadeleineTosh. It uses a waste yarn long-tail tubular cast-on, which would be the perfect foundation for ribbing or double knitting. I used size 5s, and the brim was too tight. I need to go up at least 1 needle size.
I cast on the Sloochy hat, using the wild worsted from The Accidental Knitter on size 8 needles. I think the fabric is a little too firm, so I'm going to try size 9s.
I got a good start on the Strangling Vine Lace Scarf, using J.Knits Superwash Me Light Sock. This is GORGEOUS, I can't imagine how wonderful it's going to be when it's finished and blocked. I've had to rip back a ridiculous number of times because I kept inserting a stitch in the same damn place, but I rewrote the pattern notes to make it easier to track.
And finally, Sis gave me sock yarn for Christmas -- red/purple for me, and pink/grey to make socks for her. She mentioned that she'd like mittens, and I asked her "With or without fingers?". Evidently, to non-knitters, that is the most nonsensical question ever asked. I'm talking gales of laughter.
ravelry
I spent the evening getting my Ravelry stash up to date. I've decided to be at peace with my stash. I bought a LOT of yarn in 2008. I knew there was a good chance I'd be laid off, so I spent money while I had it. Maybe not the most responsible choice, but I'm glad I made it, because I have a gorgeous stash. :)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
epic fail fallout
At 5 this morning, I accepted that Dad was not going to get a handknit gift this year. This may distress me more than it does him, I do not know. But I can't do it, especially since we're exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve, not Christmas morning. (I'm having a mild bit of trauma over that, frankly.) Even if I could finish it, I'd never get it blocked, AND I would have driven myself stark staring insane.
Lockhart's socks just lack legs, but I can finish those at Mom and Dad's. Good conversation socks -- simple stockinette. Mom's socks are finished and gorgeous.
So that's my holiday knitting for the year -- hopefully next year will be better. I'm glad I gave up rather than drive myself mad. In fact, I spent this afternoon winding yarn, and this evening poring over patterns and looking for good matches. I'm about one good stiff drink away from casting on 4 new projects -- 2 hats and 2 sets of fingerless mitts. :) And after the holiday, I'll start SwR's birthday socks.
Lockhart's socks just lack legs, but I can finish those at Mom and Dad's. Good conversation socks -- simple stockinette. Mom's socks are finished and gorgeous.
So that's my holiday knitting for the year -- hopefully next year will be better. I'm glad I gave up rather than drive myself mad. In fact, I spent this afternoon winding yarn, and this evening poring over patterns and looking for good matches. I'm about one good stiff drink away from casting on 4 new projects -- 2 hats and 2 sets of fingerless mitts. :) And after the holiday, I'll start SwR's birthday socks.
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