"If you like it so much, why dontcha marry it?"

Remember that playground provocation? I believe I was in third grade when it was at the height of vogue. Then I got older, and I realized you can't. You can't always marry the one you love more than anything in the world. But you can sleep with it.



I'm being facetious, of course. I don't love knitting more than anything in the world, though it is near the top of my list. I am entirely serious, however, when I tell you that I'm sleeping with it tonight. I had this idea for a scarf: a big, squishy, cuddly scarf. This one fits the bill, and it's gigantic. About 14"x90", I believe. We'll see what the final measurements are when it's done blocking. But blocking, that was the problem. When I went to lay it out on two towels laid end to end, I discovered that they were too short. Actually, there is no swath of floor unoccupied enough to lay out the entire scarf in my 500 sq ft apartment, and on top of that, the carpet is too flat for the proper pin grippage required for lace. The bed was my only option, but even then, I have a good 2-3 feet of the bottom to block tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll be ok tonight. I have a whole big bed to myself, but I only ever sleep on the very edge so I can stick my feet out when they get too hot.

I'll take a proper FO picture when I'm done and post the specs. I have quite a bit of knitting that I've completed of late, but the thought of blogging has started to seem like laundry: the more that piles up, the harder it is to actually do. This semester has been a tough one so far, too. The bulk of my classes are engineering and math related. In a way, though, it's very satisfying to work towards concrete answer. It's less nerve-wracking to me than having to write analytical essays. One of my classes is Yarn Engineering. It's very fascinating: I've learned to calculate linear density of a yarn and perform tests to determine tenacity, elongation, uniformity and grade. We get to use robots! Next week (well, it was supposed to be this week, but we had a snow day), we're learning about optimum twist. None of this really translates over into handknitting, but I love learning more about fibers and yarn nonetheless.

Holiday Knitting?

I stepped into a mall in the beginning of November, and already the lights were strung, the faux snow piled just so in the store windows, and the crowds were ravenous. It's also that time of year when most knitters seem to be churning out piles of exquisite handknits for all their friends and loved ones. Like most of the insanity during the holiday season, I prefer to take a step back. It's overwhelming, really. I'm not going back to a mall or any other large shopping venue until February 20th, or so, well after Valentine's day. I'm not knitting everyone gifts, either. I'm not sacrificing the enjoyment of my hobby, my stress-relief for deadlines and frustration.

That being said, I'm not entirely foregoing the holiday knitting. My dad's had a bit of a rough year, and he deserves a handmade gift. I'm working on another hat from Hats On!, specifically the All-Over Two-Color Patterned Watch Cap (bit of a clumsy name, if you ask me). I want him to actually wear it, as well, which means that it needs to be machine washable, and possibly dryable (my parents aren't too particular about those things), so I'm using Plymouth Encore in 217 and 389.

I made two swatches:


The swatch on the left was the first one I made, but I realized afterwards that the book had the colors reversed: the light color was the background and the dark was the pattern. I swatched both for the heck of it, but I still like the first one better. The lines are more crisp, which makes the pattern more defined. The hat has a folded rib brim, which will also be in black.

Swatches in colorwork are kind of fun. These went a bit slow, because instead of making extra long floats to bring my yarn back to the beginning of the faux round, I just cut the yarn and tied the two colors in a knot at the end of each row. Kind of tedious and renders the yarn useless in the event of a shortage, but my tension was much more even.

I would love to be able to make something nice for my mom, but she's so hard to knit for. Her wardrobe is rather utilitarian, and she buys herself what she needs. She won't wear a scarf (I made her one when I first learned to knit, and I wound up wearing it) or any other accessory. I'm going to make some ornaments for the tree this year. Next year, if I think to start early enough, I want to make Christmas Stockings for my immediate family. I think she would appreciate that.

I have a large extended family, but I only really exchange gifts with the two female cousins who are around my age (the rest are pretty much ten and under). I've ordered some allhemp6 and am going knit soap sacks. Accompanied by bars of homemade soap, I think it'll be a nice gift. I think I'll make one for my grandmother.

Happy holiday season, knitters! Take lots of breaks to stretch, do some breathing exercises, and if you don't think your gift will be properly appreciated, buy a gift card instead.

It's another hat, but it's REALLY COOL this time.

Let me tell you a secret: last New Year, I made a resolution. Nothing terribly lofty or ambitious, but I promised myself that this would be the year I'd venture into colorwork. That little voice in the corner of my mind has been reminding me of this for eleven months, questioning my project choice every time I picked up the needles. Well. I've finally made that little voice go away (and really, it's more innocuous that it sounds. We all have these Jiminy Crickets, right?). Nothing drastic, I just completed my first piece of standed knitting.

Ta da!

Take note of the picot edging!

The stats:
Pattern: Norwegian Star from Charlene Schurch's Hat's On!
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in colors 863 and 870, one ball of each.
Needles: US 3 16" Clover circular and coresponding Clover DPNs
Size: Medium (18 3/4" circumference)

This project was surprisingly quick and easy, completed over Thanksgiving break and the eight hour round trip car ride. I think it seemed to fly by faster than hats normally do (and hats are already my quick, easy and portable project of choice) because I was so interested in seeing the patterns develop. The hardest part was teaching myself to knit continental, so that I could carry contrasting color in my left hand. It's a very frustrating experience to relearn something in a completely new way when you already know how to do it perfectly well, but differently. Prior to this, I completed a wonky, continental knit, garter stitch dishcloth half fraught with tension issues (the other half is when I finally got that hang of it). It gave me new appreciation for those just learning to knit.

I adore this pattern. The book assumes prior knowledge of chart knitting, but I really prefer to work from charts, so that was a plus for me, I didn't encounter any problems or confusion with the directions. I'm really happy with the book as a whole, and I plan on making many more of the hats. The yarn is also wonderful. I hadn't intended on getting a superwash, but it's what was in stock at my LYS. Cascade 220 is simply a great, basic, worsted weight yarn for when you're on a bit of a budget and you really want the stitchwork to be the focus of your project. It has excellent stitch definition, decent yardage and comes in an endless number of colors. In fact, I love it so much, I would buy it even if I wasn't being cost conscious.

I made the hat exactly as specified in the pattern and was very pleased the with results. However, I decided that what I really wanted was a hat with earflaps and ties, so I decided to add them.



The most effective method of knitting the earflaps probably would have been to use slipped stitches to create a double knit earflap that was a color reverse of itself on the opposite side. However, I couldn't figure out how to do this on my own. I was staying in a hotel room and hadn't brought my laptop, so reasearch was out. I really wanted to incorporate the star pattern from the main body of the hat, so I went with what I knew. I used slipped stitch double knitting to create the earflap and carried the contrasting color along on the inside. As a result, I have an earflap that has the same design on both sides.

I made the ties after arriving home and used a bit of a shortcut: I bought a knitting spool. It made the I-cords so much less painful, and there's no awkwardness in the first inch or so, which is usually what happens to my icords. The tassels on the ends were made by wrapping the yarn around a chocolate bar, which was the only thing in my apartment that was the right size. I attached all the pieces together and blocked the hat on a balloon balanced on a glass, which was balanced on an overturned mixing bowl (I felt a little like MacGyver at this point, but, hey, whatever it takes). This was so that the ties would hang straight down without dragging on my window sill. The I-cords lengthened considerably during blocking, so it was a good thing that they were a little on the short side to begin with. They're perfect now,

When it's cold outside, I can walk to school all warm and toasty like this:

(Looooook into my eyeeeeeeees... Sorry, the pic's a little creepy.)

For those who are interested, here's a pic of the hat's guts:

I think that looks pretty nifty. The first three inches are folded under, creating the picot edge and an extra layer of fabric along around the tops of one's ears. It's a toasty hat.

I am totally in love with stranded knitting.

Sweater complete!

So, I finished my sweater... what? You didn't know I was knitting a sweater? It was kind of something that happened without my realization. I knit the entire body before finals week last semester, and it languished in my knitting basket until this semester's midterms. Because I was expressly avoiding what I was supposed to be doing (studying, writing papers, you know... the fun stuff), it was done in no time at all.

The yarn was originally purchased to make a different sweater (see this post), but I changed my mind and knit a different sweater from the pattern booklet.

Here it is laid out:

Front


Back


The color is all off in these pictures. They came out rather overexposed, and, in fixing that, it looks very purple. In reality, it's such a dark plum that it almost looks like a chocolate brown.

The stats:
Pattern: Adrienne Vittadini Deep Rib V Neck Pullover
Yarn: 11 balls of Mission Falls 1824 Wool in Damson (024)
Needles: US 7 20" Denise Circulars
Size: Petite

I made a couple modifications when working the pattern. The most obvious was that I added waist shaping.



The sweater was originally shaped like a box, but I am not shaped like a box. I also worked most of the body in the round, splitting for the front and the back when I got to the neck shaping, which was about two inches below the arm shaping. I was going to work the sleeves in the round as well, but decided it was more important to work both sleeves at once, so they were knit flat. I changed the sleeve increases, as the pattern originally called for a series of increases right after the ribbing, which I felt contributed to the funny poof in the pattern picture. I omitted these and instead increased more frequently throughout the length of the sleeve to wind up with the same number of stitches at the end.

The collar is knit in once piece after everything else is seamed. Picking up those 184 stitches helped to vanquish my dislike of picking up stitches once and for all. It used to be my most dreaded knitting technique, but turns out I just needed practice. Making faux round swatches is my new nemesis.

Here's a picture of it on me:


And a close up of the V neck detail in the front:


Once again, it is very difficult to take modeled shots of oneself. I took about 30, running back and forth between propped up camera and frame, trying to get something decent, and these were just the best that came out. Normally, however, I'm not a fan of the headless look.

I am very happy with the yarn. Mission Falls 1824 Wool is very soft and a pleasure to work with. It's machine washable, which was an unintended bonus. The pattern called for a wool-silk blend, so using 100% wool has affected the drape, but I'm very pleased with the effect. The sweater has been blocked once, prior to seaming and picking up collar stitches, but it needs to be blocked once more as a whole.

It's a very comfortable sweater, but it sits farther out on my shoulders than I would have liked, even after adding an extra inch and a half of ribbing around the neckline. It's a bit big on me, bigger than the close-fitting sweater I originally envisioned. However, that is not the fault of the pattern or my knitting. I'm just smaller than I was when I started the sweater, which I knew, but decided to knit on when I picked it up again, as I was already knitting the smallest size. It's worth noting that being smaller than the smallest size in many patterns is kind of irritating. I know, I have little right to complain, but it means more math on my part. Not that I have a problem with math, either, but sometimes a girl just wants to knit! I think I need to eat more chocolate.

As for my next project-in-progress, it's another hat, but it's a little more interesting. Here's a preview of the swatch (the dreaded faux round swatch):

Felt Clogs Complete!

Before:




And after:




The stats:
Pattern: Fiber Trends' Felt Clogs
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky in Oregano and Aubergine.
Needles: US 15 18" Denise Circulars.
Size:Women's Medium (Size 8 feet)

This was a very fast and easy knit, although it required plenty of counting. I finished the knitting in two weekends and felted them this morning. This was my first felted object. The pattern is extremely detail, and the only error I made (and subsequently fixed) was a result of not reading exactly what the pattern was telling me to do. The shaping is very clever and employs short rows. The slipper is knit almost entirely in one piece; there is a second sole on each for extra cushioning which is knit separately, however, the only seams are straight down the center of each sole.

My only modification to the pattern was to use one strand of bulky yarn instead of two strands of worsted. I used almost entirely one skein of Aubergine (brown) and 1 1/2 of Oregano (green). Each of these skeins is 125 yards. The yarn felted nicely. I was originally going to attempt handfelting, as the thought of using so many quarters in my apartment building's expensive washer was painful. I set up a hot soapy tub and a sink of ice water, put on some rubber gloves and started scrubbing, but after a half an hour, I was tired and sweaty and one slipper was just starting to felt. My time was worth more than the quarters, so I hauled the dripping wool downstairs in a pillowcase with an old pair of jeans and a little detergent and threw them it. It took exactly two wash cycles, but this may be because these washers have extremely short wash cycles. It's only 22 minutes long with 10 minutes of hot water agitation before going into a cold rinse and spin cycles. I took them out prior to the cold rinse, so machine felting took only twenty minutes.

They fit well, although they're slightly wider on my feet than I would have liked. I do have very narrow feet, however. I originally entertained thoughts of attaching a rubber sole of sorts to them to wear them outside, but that's not going to happen. They're definitely house slippers, although that's just fine by me. They could use a bit of a shave, which reminds me that I forgot to pick up disposable razors for that purpose when I went to CVS this afternoon. Oh well. I like them a whole lot.

Two more pictures just because:

When it rains, it pours...

Holy moly, I can't believe I haven't updated in three months! Truth be told, however, I pretty much haven't picked up the needles in that long. Between moving and starting school, I've been so busy. Stress brings out the knitter in me, though, and midterms compelled me to pick up the needles again and knit myself a little sanity.

I've been to two yarns stores in Philadelphia, so far. Rosie's Yarn Cellar (cellar, seller, I like the little play on words, though it is truly below street level) was the first. It's this great little store downtown that absolutely jam packed with yarn. I bought a giant skein of alpaca called Peruvian Tweed. It's completely undyed; the color variations are from the animals themselves. The yardage is amazing, too. 600 freakin yards at $26! That's 23 yards/$1. My bank account (a.k.a. College Survival Rations) likes that. I've made armwarmers so far that I absolutely love. I've been wearing a vest, a scarf and my armwarmers outdoors, and I'm good to go. It's getting rather chilly, though, but that's okay. I have a new winter coat for this season that I'm in love with. But anyway, back the the yarn. I have a scarf on the needles in a simple lace pattern. The stitch definition isn't great and it's got quite a bit of a halo, but no pilling. I'm happy with it.

Here's are the armwarmers:


Underneath the armwarmers is a scarf. Funny thing, that scarf. It's a gifted knit that's come back home to me. When D and I first started dating over two years ago, I was really getting into knitting. I'd learned a few years prior, but that was the start of my obsession. Around the holidays, I wanted to give her something really special, so I took a trip to the yarn store that I'd passed on the highway. Prior to that, I'd bought all of my yarn and supplies at big box craft stores. So I went in and was basically overwhelmed. So many gorgeous natural fibers to choose from.

Now, big box craft stores mean a lot of crappy yarn for not a lot of money. I was making Homespun scarves with one $3 skein! I knew I was going to pay more for pretty yarn, but I was intent on getting the best possible for this girl that I was absolutely smitten with. I settled on some really soft, thick and thin merino wool. I picked out two earthy colors that I thought she would like (funny enough, they've become my favorite colors in recent years, but back then, I loved pink. She's more of a grey/navy type, though it worked out in the end), and decided to make a wide, striped, seed stitch scarf. $30 for two little balls of yarn, fifteen bucks apiece. Ten times what I spent on making my last scarf. The lady asked me as I checked out if I had enough yarn, and I said, Oh yes, of course.

You know where this is going. I started knitting with the most gorgeous yarn I had ever touched. I was in love. And it ran out when the scarf was a scant fifteen inches. Sheepishly, I went back to the yarn store and bought two more balls. (Why I thought that would be enough, I have no idea. Somehow I thought there would magically be more yardage? That a 30" scarf would suffice? I don't know.) I went back later in the week and bought a final two balls. Yeah, I spent $90 on a 47" scarf (I got an extra two inches when I blocked it. First thing I ever blocked, too). It's a very nice scarf, but it's also the most expensive thing I've ever knit. I loved that girl. Still very much do. :)

Here's a close up of the texture:


The scarf is back home with me, because D is back in Florida for a job, and while it's 39 degrees here, it's 80 degrees there. I've been wearing it everyday when I walk to school, and the memory makes me smile.

I've also been working on a pair of Fibertrends felted clog slippers for myself. The pattern looks daunting, cause there are so many words, but that's because everything is thoroughly explained. It's a good pattern, and a quick knit. I finished one last weekday and I'm halfway through the second one. Hopefully I'll finish and be able to felt them by the end of the weekend. I bought a zippered pillowcase for the occasion. The shaping in these is really clever. It's all one piece, except for the second sole (to add another layer to the bottom), which is then knit on with picked up stitches. Lots of shortrows. I really hope they turn out well. This is my first felted piece.

Sitting on the table.

Why yes, they are stuffed with my (clean) undies to show you the shape. Why my sock-to-panty ratio is so absurdly out of wack that all my socks are either in the laundry pile or on my feet, I have no clue.

And to show you how big they are:


It kind of looks like a big lumpy blob right now, but I have hope. I'm using Lamb's Pride Bulky in Oregano and Aubergine. It was yarn that my parents bought me (or paid for, I suppose) for my 20th birthday when we were in Cape May. It's been languishing in my knitting bin for over a year. I originally had a felted bag in mind, but then decided that I didn't particularly like felted bags, and the yarn's a bit too pokey for me to wear next to my skin. I like these slippers.

The second yarn store I went to was Sophie's Yarns, which is also downtown, on Fabric Row. Lots and lots of fabric stores, but only one little yarn shop. Actually it's a pretty darn big yarn shop in a beautiful old building. There are orginal hardwood floors. There's a burn mark on the floor along one wall in the distinct shape of an iron. It has character. It was so bright and sunny the day that we went, and the store was full of light. Maybe a smaller selection that Rosie's but it also felt much more serene. I bought some Manos Cotton Stria, which is soft and knits up beautifully, but is a bit rough on my hands (no give, like protien fibers).

I should post more often, huh? Then my updates wouldn't be a mile long. Hopefully I'll keep up with things. I made a hat out of the Manos, but no pictures of that right now. I need to have it modeled, and I'm shooting on location in Florida... though not soon enough. My new major is Textile Engineering Technology, and I love it so far. One of my classes is Survey of the Textile Industry, and I'm learning tons about fibers and knitted and woven fabrics. I'll get around to sharing some of the best stuff soon. In the upcoming semesters, I take machine knitting and weaving courses. I'm looking forward to that.

Knitting's in Progress!

Oh yeah, this is a knitting blog, isn't it?

With my move getting closer and my need to pack looming larger and larger over my head, I've picked up the needles again to procrastinate and decompress. It's a sad, but true, fact that most of my knitting gets done this way.

I picked up some Sugar n Cream cotton from Michael's the other day, intending to make washcloths. However, the variegated yarn seemed suited for entrelac, which didn't work well as a washcloth, having a wrong side, and all. But I do have a very practical, though slightly dull, navy loveseat that needed some adornment, so a pillow it was. I was also determined to do it in the round. I'd never done entrelac before, but I used this tutorial to figure out the basics and make swatch and this one to work out the mechanics of doing it in the round. It's one of those things that you really have to try to get your head around it, and it's so much easier than it looks.

The pillow is working up to be much larger than I thought it would, and I need to buy more yarn. I bought three balls originally, but one is of a different dyelot, so I'll exchange it and buy more. I estimate that one pillow will take 4.5 balls of yarn and I think I want to make two pillows. Good thing this stuff is cheap! I should have bought more when it was on sale last week for $1/ball. Oh well.

The stats:
Pattern: My own- 14 entrelac repeats of 8 stitches each.
Yarn: Lily's Sugar n Cream in Summer Splash.
Needles: Size 5 Denise Interchangables


Progress so far:

It's a beautiful sunny day, so I ran outside to take the photos, but only for a minute, because it was close to 110 degrees today, and I started sweating as soon as I stepped out of the door. The colors are slightly muted in real life, and there's more contrast with the green.

And here's a close-up:

You can tell in this pic that my ssks are a bit wonky. There's just no perfect way to do that decrease (for me, anyway), and the cotton shows every last detail. I hope this will straighten out a bit when it's blocked.

I used a provisional cast on, mainly because I want to kitchener both the bottom and top so they're symmetrical, and it was a good opportunity to learn something else new. Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as it seemed to be the last time I tried it, and I used the same Knitty tutorial.

I don't know what I'm going to stuff it with. I'd like to get a pillow form, but I'm afraid I won't find one the right size. I might just pick up a big thing of stuffing. At least I purposefully knit quite tightly. Also, I'm thinking of knitting a swatch and attempting to stain it with tea to mute it a bit more, as the colors are a little bright for my taste.

Moving, again.

I still have nothing to share, knitting-wise. However, this is entirely forgivable, because I have my first apartment, see?



It's quite tiny, but it's all mine. I move in August 10th, which is nine days before my 21st birthday and thirteen days before my first day of school. I'm quickly becoming intimately acquainted with Ikea. I'm very happy, see?



That's all for now.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Once again, I'm the delinquent blogger. However, this is partly because I haven't been knitting much at all. Another repeat on the cuff of my second Pomatomus sock, but that's about it. Miami doesn't exactly inspire desires for warm woolly socks. Also, there's been a lot to do, and being in a long-distance relationship means that even important things like knitting take a backseat for a while.

We took a short vacation to Disney World.

(By the way, the park is so empty because it was D's birthday and we had breakfast reservations at Cinderella's Castle before the park opened.)

It was a lot of fun, and absolutely exhausting. We managed to see everything that we wanted to in all four major parks in three days. (If you're interested, the highlights from our trip can be found in my flickr account. The thrill-seeker in me left a little unsatisfied, though. For this reason, we're making a brief jaunt to Busch Gardens in a few weeks to ride the coasters. Still, Disney can't be beat in terms of experience and ambiance. They were pretty competent in accommodating us in terms of dietary needs, which is another fairly recent development in our household. D and I have become completely vegan (which means we don't eat meat, milk, cheese, eggs, honey, etc. Anything animal derived). I'm really happy and positive about this change, and I rarely feel deprived. I'm certainly not losing any weight, either, though, as I've been cooking and baking a lot more. I made a killer Ginger-Walnut-Coconut-Carrot Cake from Vegan with a Vengeance last week and yummy french toast this evening:


Mmm. At this time, I'm still choosing to work with animal fibers, but I'm more conscious about the sources. I'm trying to buy from smaller companies who raise their own animals. I don't believe that shearing animals is inherently harmful, but as in any animal industry, there is the potential for abuse, especially as the company grows larger and those who sell the wool are farther and farther away from the realities of raising the animals. Also, once I use up my current (rather meager) stash, I'm going to try my hand at recycling yarn from thrift store sweaters.

The only downside to the whole summer so far is that I managed to get sunburned a couple days ago. Not at Disney, where I spent three 15 hour days outdoors, but when I spent less than two hours at the beach, mostly in the water. I was wearing waterproof sunblock, too, SPF 55. I just shouldn't have been out in the sun that time of day. I didn't even get just a little red, either. I have blisters on top of blisters, and I look like some sort of mutant. I'm tempted to take a picture of my charred and oozing shoulders as consequential proof that I won't be less pale if I "just get a little sun." I'm just meant to be translucent. However, D has informed me that if were to post such a picture, no one would read my blog ever again, so I'll spare you (It really is that bad, but, sadly, it's only the second worst sunburn I've ever had). Instead, I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures from our vacation, the fireworks display at Epcot:

I'm going to pay how much a year to work with yarn?

I suppose this is a good a time as any to announce that I've been accepted to Philadelphia University for the fall. I'm officially enrolled in the Textile Design program, which is a Bachelor of Science degree (and I do not anticipate being mature enough not to giggle over getting a BS anytime soon). However, depending on my math placement scores, I may pursue a Engineering Degree with a concentration in Textiles. In any case, there will be a lot of fiber in my future. Hopefully that will mean more exciting things to show you, but it might just be lots of swatches as I learn to use the knitting machines and looms. I'm not entirely sure what to expect.


I'm almost through finals (one more on Monday!), so a significant portion of my brain functions should return shortly. I have discovered just how much of a stress knitter I am, as I completed both the front and back of a sweater in a matter of three days. I imagine that the sleeves will take at least another month without the pressure of knowing that there's something else I really should be doing. I'm leaving for New Jersey on Tuesday morning, and then for Florida on the 22nd. I don't expect to finish a ton of knitting this summer, because funds are low, and who really wants to knit 100 degree weather? I do have the second Pomatomus sock to do, which should occupy me on the plane and in the car. Perhaps I'll pick up another skein of sock yarn, as we have a couple road trips planned, including one to Disney. :D

That's all for now, I suppose. I feel a little boring sans pictures.

OH WAIT! I really did forget something. I received a scholarship from PhilaU (we'll call them that, because who really wants to attend a school called PU?). It's not huge, and I didn't even apply for it, but it was awarded to me on the basis of my current GPA. I'm so very happy and grateful. Everything is really going so well.