honey, what the...

Early winter holiday party with my dad's family was great. Sherwood's neck was reknit on US 3's over 10 rows and taken in 8 sts at the sides of the neck...




(firelight photos)

and grandma was gifted her afghan (no pics), which she loved. These weren't the best part of the trip though, surprisingly. My dad, whom my son and I haven't seen in years, got to spend a good deal of time chasing my kid around... and kept calling him "honey." See, recently my son started calling me "honey" (and anyone he was asking a favor of), and I remarked that I had no idea where he had picked that word up from-- I'd never called him honey. I guess I did though... my mom never called me honey, nor did anyone else I could think of. I think I picked it up from my dad, a million years ago. When I realized this, I had to excuse myself to another room to not cry in front of them... for too many years unseen, so much I didn't know.

I didn't knit at all during my trip and little since returning. Partly it was the almost lukewarm reception my gifts received taking the wind/manic 25th deadline from my sails-- I'm not freaking out about finishing my aunt and uncle's gifts before the 25th after my aunt took a look at the afghan and remarked, "you've got too much time on your hands!" :) I'm also switching up what I was going to make her (not in a spiteful way... I was trying to knit Tamarah, but my goodness I'm not smart enough to understand the pattern so I've put it away for now and picked something else-- more on that later.) Since my uncle's gift will ship at the same time, I'm not stressed... even less by the fact my sister said she didn't want/wear socks (so of course I promptly swapped the yarn for A Gathering of Lace... I feel the pull, you enablers.) More time for other things... I actually tried to finish up my walkaround socks for a holiday gift but, well. Thousand words, take two--






Interlacements Tiny Toes yarn in Chairman of the Board

The second is a good inch wider than the first, with the same needles and CO #. I was going to chalk this up to a change in gauge even though "I've not had this happen before!" (said my ex ;))... but there was something wonky about the 2nd skein of yarn I was going to write about when done (didn't think it would make this much of a difference!)



The two plies of yarn, instead of being twisted around each other-- had one ply twisted around the other, making for a very "bumpy" hand. I know that 2 ply yarns are inherently "flat" as well, but this yarn was actually flat by my eye, as if it has been pressed down somehow. I didn't want to admit the problem, even when I noticed the striping/color was dramatically different at first... but the gauge changed from 8 sts/inch to 7 sts/inch on US 1 (2.25mm)! Ergh. So... yeah. I usually lose/gain .5 sts/inch per .25mm needle change at sock weight gauge-- I really don't want to knit these on US 00's.

With my head in the sand personality, I started my new design project instead of dealing with it.



Exciting! :) I hate that, seeing things I can't see. But I have a reason to share... This is my 1st time in a long time knitting on 2 circular needles-- and I realized how much I hate the caston part. I do prefer using 2 circs to magic loop, learned that way so I guess that's why. I always use this method, plus the crossover join, meaning its pretty fiddly and takes too much time to just cast on. So this time, I went with a different way, inspired by magic looping. (Take a look at this link if this is your first time with ML, I'm just showing basic basics.)

Cast on your total # of sts on one needle.


Count off half of the sts, and pinch/pull the cord thru as you do for magic loop.


Push stitches towards the end of the needles, and use a crossover join to join into a circle for knitting in the round. (Remember this is still just on one circular needle).


Using your 2nd circular needle, begin knitting the first set of stitches as you would for knitting on two circulars. When you reach the end, you will have 2 circular needles across the front and back of one circular surface. Begin knitting on 2 circs as you would normally.

Forgive me for not showing the rest of the project? No? Oh well... okay.



How about now?

sherwood sweater... finished?

my sister, going thru my mom's photo albums and splitting up pics of herself and me for us to have, ended up with a larger pile of pictures of me (older sister) than she did of herself... asked my mom, "what, did you run out of film?"

maybe mom just got exasperated trying to capture toddlers on camera :)

this is actually going somewhere, i'd love yall's advice. i "finished" sherwood and popped it on the hambot to make sure it looked okay, but... well. thousand words, eh?


sherwood sweater, knitty fall 2006
size 2, with extended body length and arms
started: october 1, 2006
finished: december 1, 2006 (?) december 2, 2006
brown sheep cotton fleece, wild orange colorway-- 3 skeins
us 5 (3.75mm) 16", 24" addis and double pointed needles



*

yeah. the neck looks wrong, right? like a boatneck? i dunno, the more he wears it the more it grows on me, but... but.

more non-modelled (meaning not so blurry) pics, all unblocked...


front


front, up close


back, up close

now, i did continue in pattern up the front neck instead of just ribbing as the pattern suggests (for only 4 rounds, then ribbed plain for 2), and also continued the rib pattern in the back. i preferred the flow of that look than adding ribs that didn't perfectly match up. i did work a total of 6 rounds only for the neck as written for the size, but still... it doesn't look quite right to my eye. opinions? (thanks in advance, too... you guys always have great ideas about the gamut.)

i'm thinking my options are

1) leave it be. your kid has your huge head and needs wide neck openings anyways.
2) undo the bindoff and add a few more rows in pattern.
3) undo the bindoff and add a few more rows in pattern, while decreasing along the sides of the neck to cut down on the size of the opening.

i don't think it would look okay without a tshirt underneath, plus the kid will fanagle someone into taking it off sometime, i'm sure and he'd just be too cold without that layer to strip down to. he also does have a huge head, so the boatneck is a good thing in that sense. partly i don't want to do anything with it, but i have the time...

the pattern pics look like the original may have a boatneck-y opening for the head as well, that i've knit this correctly but to my eye looks weird done. i'm just worried that as i plan to pair this with a red tshirt underneath that it will look like its falling off his shoulders..? i dunno. maybe its just pre-family jitters. whatever i decide, i'll try and score better pics this weekend after its blocked and its fate decided.

anyhow, besides that, i love it. and my kid hates it, begged me to take it off... it may never see the light of day, anyway. ergh.


previous posts on sherwood sweater
october 2, 2006
october 5, 2006
november 27, 2006
edit: reknit neck here, december 8, 2006

*what's holding baby boy's attention? a homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and iron chef. he is my son... i built this computer a few years ago just so i could install a video card with a tv tuner and remote to be able to record iron chef episodes from cable (and play 80's emulations with my wireless keyboard and mouse on the big screen tv)-- before the days of tivo and dvrs. it almost feels like me telling my kid i can remember phone calls being a dime the other day :) he may not even know what payphones are by the time he wants to make his own super calls.

all over the place

happy thanksgiving? sure... too much food, too little family. mom got teary saying her twice yearly blessing over dinner, i ate all of the cranberries and the inside of my mouth was in a state of perpetual pucker, and my son just slapped his spoon in the potatoes and had about half a roll for dinner. good times :)

spent the day spinning outside with the too-alone-for-their-ages neighbor kids watching (started out well... "my grandma must have done that. cos she didn't have tv before we were born" but slowly degenerated into bickering and death threats amongst each other... they're only 6 and 3! oy...)


final skein of h2g2 roving, top right (appox 200yd)

the hitchhiker's guide yarn ended up shorter than the previous and without any yellow (one of my singles was much longer than the other), but... no knots! i think i'm learning, which is the point :) these will make their way to laurie in maine as soon as i can wedge myself out the door.


baby alpaca & silk roving in fawn
from mataharispinnery.com

my soft loose love is now a big squishy pile of yarn. if only everything were this simple. i started spinning this very fine as it seems i'm now accustomed to doing, but i didn't like the result... a little too wiry and definitely not the soft poof of the roving. so i tried to spin it thick in order to 2-ply it into an even thicker result-- it worked, even though it varied from dk to heavy worsted. not sure what i'll do with it, but its soft :) since i started spinning the roving very thin, i had a large bit of that single left over i navajo plied into a similarly weighted yarn. i've changed my mind, i like 2-plying better :) i think i may pick up a lazy kate and more bobbins to attempt 3+ plying... fun fun.

after thanksgiving, i had a sudden surprise... i decided that i will go to see my family this coming weekend (!!!) which of course sent me into a panic-- i am only about 1/4 of the way thru my uncle's scarf...


cable and rib scarf from knitspot
finished celtic cap from girl from auntie (november 21)
both in patons classic merino wool, grey mix

and still had many other gifts to finish for family i'll see then... of course i went into immediate panic mode and decided i'd just knit 18 hours day and finish everything by this weekend. after sleeping on that, i decided to relax and work on something else instead...


sherwood sweater from fall knitty 2006
brown sheep cotton fleece, wild orange
size 2, us 5 (3.75mm), addi 24" circular

sherwood, that i had set down when i started my holiday knitting. laying in bed, agonizing over the yet-to-be-knit gifts and what my son and i would be wearing to the holiday blowout, i realized it would be really silly to go buy him a new sweater when sherwood was aching to be finished. it just needs arms and a collar after marathoning it thru this weekend.

i realized that i had been knitting it incorrectly-- i had been knitting each cable cross, instead of following the pattern (either knit or purl). this probably resulted in the "sloppy" looking cables i had complained about-- now that i have fixed my mistake, they look more defined and flat. its not so bad i felt i had to frog though... :)

i'm hoping to finish the sweater and a pair of unfelted fuzzy feet for my dad this week (i'll be able to custom felt them for him when i see him this weekend, better than trying to mold them to my feet and hoping they fit his.) anything else done this week will just be gravy.

other definitions of gravy...


hypotenuse from knitspot
started: november 13, 2006 (?)
blue sky alpaca, alpaca silk dk in #123 (ruby) ... color's not correct
us 7 (4.5mm), addi

so.nice. i put in a few rows on this every once in a while, when i'm feeling selfish and need some "me" time :) the yarn is amazing and soft, way light and i love the color (its not correct in my photos.) i quickly memorized the pattern so its just a delight for me to zen out with late at nite, alone, dreaming in red. this is about a full skein of the alpaca silk (i bought 3)... i'm debating on adding a 4th when i get there for a really long scarf. how long are scarves supposed to be, anyway?


my new double pointed needle protectors holder from three owls knitting
front: ryc cashcotton, us 1.5 (2.5mm) in sugar (pink)
back: interlacements tiny toes, us 1 (2.25mm) in chairman of the board

i totally fell in love with sherry's dpn protector holders when she put her tek up, but i never got around to making any of my own (even though i kept finding needles poking out of my sock bags!) so i squealed with delight to find she had opened up an etsy shop and was selling them, and had added some beautiful beads to them as well. she cut down a set for me so i have a 6" set that fits my knit picks options dpns (which i like btw, if they made "regular" us sizing they'd probably be my needle of choice) and a 7" set that fit all of the other dpns i own. i'm holding myself back from ordering another set, i think there was enough gluttony over the turkey day weekend :)

wish me luck with sherwood, my family, life the universe and everything...

hubris for 100, alex.

quick post to show off a day's worth of negative knitting.


Noro Silk Garden, color 224 (lot a)

negative?



i mischarted the lace panel, and a yo is one spot off for 2 repeats. it bugs me... but what bugs me more is i'm not knitta enuf to drop down and fix it with a hook, so i'm taking pics and posting them to shame myself into ripping it out when i get back from my walk to the library with my little bumblebee.

(anyone know what i'm knitting? its a free pattern, available online. more info when it looks like its supposed to, if no one guesses...)

uh, the ORANGE?



there it is! :)

i'm not nearly as sour as i normally would be... wanna know why?


sweet georgia superwash sock yarn
100% superwash merino wool
185 yd/50 gm
black orchid colorway

alyson sent me this amazing yarn from her contest to collect sock/lace/one skein projects (check out her compilation HERE)... i have been drooling over sweet georgia yarns since forever (have you SEEN the kill bill colorway?? goodness, i need a sugar daddy)... so i'm super excited and so thankful (and already have a sock recipient in mind)-- thanks again alyson! :)

sherwood's slowed down, since i just worked on the noro project for the past day or so...



between you me and the chickens, i think the cabling looks weird and messy. my fault, but i'm hoping it looks better from far away/aka on a running toddler when done.

back with more noro next time, i'm wanting to get this project done fast (more on that later, too!)

just shy of the curse

I scoff at the curse with aptly named and lovingly made socks.


Boyfriend Socks by Alice Bell (free pattern! w00t!)
Interlacements Tiny Toes yarn (overdyed)
US 1 dpns (2.25mm), 4
Started: September 16, 2006
Finished: October 2, 2006

These are really great, I've got to say. The ribbing is interesting with the cable detail, stretchy in a good way (these are for a 9.5" wide foot, mine is 8.25" and still comfy (i realized i like a slightly looser fit foot in handknit socks)-- the 9.5" foot says they fit like a glove. Alice's sizing and negative ease calculation seems right on as far as my "medium" sized pair went.

I think they make a good unisex sock, I'm thinking about a pair for my dad in the same yarn but a different color. I love them, but then again I have a bit of a soft spot for socks :)



I used the "cabling without a cable needle" method and it seemed to fly-- I was always put off by "learning" it since, well people always say they "learned" it and I never wanted to take the time to master something new since I knew how to use a cable needle :) I'm glad I did, I'll be using it from now on... just take a look at Wendy's link! If you've cabled before, there's nothing to "learn" really.

For those looking to knit this sock top down, it'd be easy just to switch out and reverse the cabling directions, c6f for c6b etc-- resulting in the same sock. I think its a great looking panel, don't let the toe up instructions stop you from knitting it. (I used the heel/toe from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' book again.)



This was the first time I used the Interlacements Tiny Toes yarn. I liked it, a few things...

1) It seemed to have a lot of twist in it, not like the yarn was overly twisted, but that the nice looking and soft yarn kept twisting back on itself throughout the skein and knotting on itself at times. I noticed this in each of 4 skeins (I have an "on the go" sock I'm knitting in one of the variegated colorways). It wasn't where I had to let the work dangle and untwist (just once), but the twisting seemed almost odd since the yarn itself wasn't overplied. Maybe I'm thinking about this too much, reading the spinning books lately.

2) Another strange thing, the dye seems to not penetrate the "core" of the yarn in places. When I would (ahem) split the yarn accidentally, or when it was stretched in a high stress way (like cable crosses), or even just looking at the core where the plies meet when knitting, I could see the white where the dye didn't penetrate to the center where the plies overlapped. I don't think this is the dyer or the dye, especially because the colors are so saturated and I overdyed them as well-- white was just white in some core spots and not consistently. It didn't detract from the yarn, and I don't even think I'd notice it if the yarn color wasn't so deep, but it was weird since I've never noticed this lack of penetration in another yarn before. It wouldn't stop me from buying this yarn again, but I noticed it a lot more than I would have if I weren't knitting the cables. (Take a look at the cable crossing spots, you may see what I mean.)



3) The yarn feels great. It makes a thick, sturdy feeling fabric on US 1's at 8 sts/inch, and for those who like ironwear socks, a US 0 would get an even thicker result. I think it would hurt my hands to knit it tighter than a US 0, but that's just me. I like the 1's, and I also like how "heavy" these socks feel-- perhaps the cabling and ribbing makes the sock feel heavy for its size, but in hand they're soft and squishy. The cables look great in it as well, good definition on and off the foot.

4) The Interlacements Tiny Toes is about the standard price for luxury handdyed 100% merino superwash sock yarns nowadays ($12/skein), and runs right there in the middle for weight and yardage (50 gm/185yd). I think Interlacements uses great, bold colors-- I'll look to their solids again for sock yarn. The variegateds are really bold and contrasty too, deeply dyed. That's more of a personal thing (I'll take pics of the on the go project as it gets longer to show you what I mean, but it looks good in stockinette.) I don't know if now, personally, I'd look to their variegateds for texture work-- the colors are so deep cabling and lace may be lost in the depth and contrasting colors (again, a personal thing.)



I ran out of yarn :) I had knit the first with 6" to spare, but I had to cannibalize it as I ran short on the second sock. It was anathema to me, undoing the bindoff of the first, but had to be done. Each sock now is knit to row 4 of the cable pattern and have 4 rows of k1 p1 rib before binding off using the graft off top/faux kitchener bindoff I linked in my last post, with a 10.25" foot and a 7" cuff measured from where the cabling starts atop the heel. The k1 p1 rib looks a little short to my eye, but not so bad as to have me rip out a cable... I like ending it on that "closed" part of the panel. Like I said, the cabling and rib is tight enough to not really rely on the top k1p1 to keep it up and in place on the leg, its more of the aesthetic. Still love em though.

Previous posts with the boyfriend socks:

September 17, 2006
September 21, 2006


With all of that, I started a little Sherwood...


Sherwood from Fall Knitty 2006
Cotton Fleece, Wild Orange
Size 2
US 5 80cm/24" circular (3.75mm, Addi)
Started: October 1, 2006

I was able to get gauge on US 5's (I got it on 6's too, but weirdly the fabric was just a bit drapier and I didn't think I liked it as "open" as it felt). The 80cm/24" needle was fine for me-- the body size I'm knitting is 24" around so I started on 16" and it was just too much bunch. This way's not bad at all (I really didn't want to buy a 20" circular).

I am knitting the "2" (smallest) size, but am adding length to it-- once again I'm shocked that my genepool has produced a tall, skinny kid. I worked 1.5" rows of plain in-pattern (row 1 of chart) rib before starting, looks like I'm about 20 rows in the chart now.

One thing, maybe its me: I printed the body charts like a good girl and taped them together, but they don't line up evenly! The right chart is 2 squares taller than the left (over 100), so it minutely shifts upwards and I have to untape and retape as I move up the chart. So irritating, as the tape seems to pull up the print.

More later... trying to decide if I want to cast on for another sock and knit the sherwood sweater at the same time or not. We'll see! :) Have a good week yall.

something about a saddle.

Still haven't fixed my pc yet (a combination of baby + open computer = bad and a project below); I'm still on borrowed time but I couldn't stay away :)

Instead of having any boyfriend pics to share (turned the heel, they need the cuff now), I have been furiously working on a little something for the "warm up the dutchicans" project. Kelli and Sarah are throwing a virtual handknit baby shower for Kristi and her 3 (!!!) babies to be, and I just couldn't resist.

(Link to in progress sweater here in case Kristi wants to not see just yet!)

I couldn't resist for a few reasons-- first and obvious, babies! Three!! (something snapped in me when i had my kid, i was never like this before... i mean, kids were cute and all but eh, you know? now, a kid gets within a 100 yards of me and i start squealing and making faces. can't help it, its not that bad of a vice to have except it makes me want to have more of my own.) Also, I recently thought a close female relative of mine was pregnant. She left a message on my answering machine-- call me! its important, big news!... me and my baby brain immediately jumped to the conclusion she was pregnant and I pored over baby patterns for days, waiting for her to call me back; I'd come up with an almost complete plan to swaddle the kid for the first few complacent years in handknits. Well, big news was a new *puppy*, letting the air from my sails just a little bit :)

Finally and selfishly, this was the first pattern I used to knit a sweater for my son, over 2 years ago now. I learned to knit (actually no, Debbie Stoller taught me to knit. if i ever meet her i plan to thank her, what a gift she's given me)... I learned to knit when I was pregnant, intending on making teeny tiny things for the life inside, well at least when he was clothe-able. Big pregnant, I dutifully learned knit and purl, made a garterstitch bookmark, and put knitting away til my son was born. When he (finally) decided he didn't need to be held 8 days a week, I picked it up again and decided he needed a sweater and that this pattern would be perfect. I double stranded some light fingering weight wool (non-machine washable, and i admit now a bit coarse) and pumped out the same sweater in about 3 weeks :) It was an ocean on my son, age 4-6 months then, and didn't fit him til he was 2+.

Anyway, I thought it would be a great trip down memory lane to knit it again and it was... its good to know where you come from and send on some good handknit vibes in the process.

(for the curious-- a link to the pic of that first sweater. it would fit my kid right now, but after i took this pic i held it up to him and asked him to try it on... he shook his head and hands, "nah. no. no baby, thanks." :))

***

Gearing up for the orange-only month ahead, I made a few purchases for projects I'm wanting to tackle...


Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, 3 in wild orange
for Sherwood, Knitty Fall 2006

I *loved* this pattern when I saw it, like gasping freight train love. (just a little better, or maybe a different category, than eating mac and cheese naked love.) I ordered the cotton fleece from The Lorien Store, which has *the* best pricing on CF I could find online-- regular retail is about 8.50/skein, they sell it for 5.75 and are running a 10% sale on in-stock items. Really an amazing seller, quick and responsive. (The Sheep Shed Studio sells seconds --five times fast!-- of CF for 3.50/skein, only a few colors and i'm not sure what constitutes them as seconds... they're the same place with the cheeeep mill end rovings.)

I rounded out the order with something I've been coveting a while...


Black Louet Gems Pearl (and koigu I had in stash)...

I know I asked months ago if yall thought black and this colorway of koigu would look good together for Eunny's Chuck's Cabled Socks pattern and the majority said no, but I went ahead and ordered it anyway :) I don't have real plans to knit the pattern yet (and its locked away in my cold hard drive!), but I'd like to be able to on a whim. Seeing them together makes me like the black/gold combo even more (my big halfbaked plan is to knit the *cabled* portion in the variegated koigu!)

I hope to get a little more colorwork experience down in October though...


Knit Picks Gloss in Dusk and Pumpkin
(the dusk isn't coming true to color on this borrowed pc, its darker that what i see)
also a new set of 2.5mm dpns-- i like the weight! (but think i'll knit these on circs)

I'm planning on using the Gloss for Cookie's Red Herring pattern from the latest Knitty during October... I'll knit them as mirrors, one blue foot and one orange foot. Just because :)


l to right: Schaefer Anne, Socks That Rock lightweight in Fred Flintstone, Knit Picks Essential in pumpkin

The rest of the lineup... Not sure what will make it, but the Anne will make a great pair of toe-up tiger eye lace socks (eye of the tiger was my favorite song as a kid!), the BMFA socks that rock will be another (::cough::) pair of Pomatomus socks, and the KP Essential will be Cable Net from (yeah, again)-- the latest Knitty.

Phew. Off to try and finish off the boyfriends (hehe, i'm going to call all socks boyfriend socks! too fun)... I'm still without regular pc access so I'm still slow on getting emails and such back now. Hopefully soon! :)