purple holiday gifts

Strangely, all of the last minute holiday gifts (actually finished before the holidays) were purple. Lucky color?


Stanley the Penguin
knit from KnitWhits kit, pattern by KnitSonya
US 8, Louet Riverstone kitted yarns and yardages

I *love* this toy. Not just because my son picked it out himself and asked me to make it, or that it took just a few late nites after he'd gone to bed to finish, but... it's just so cute and round :) Doesn't hurt that he loves it, too.



I like toys a lot, but it's always the finishing that gets me. I really think the make or breakness of a good looking knitted toy is the finishing-- too often mine are weirdly stuffed, unintentionally akimbo, an eye higher than the other... So I was a little nervous when I found out the front (white) belly panel wasn't intarsia, but knit separately and seamed on. Not that I look forward to intarsia or anything, but more than finishing :)

Happily though, the belly panel seaming went okay (at least for me!) and gives the penguin even more of a 3d feel. The only other parts added on were wings and feet (and how cute are those feet!!)


the beanness of the body makes me ridiculously happy

The pattern had a good tip for adding weight to the bottom of the body before seaming closed-- since I had a good amount yarn left over from the kit, I used it for weight and the penguin stands on its own.

Overall the pattern is great! Since there is no intarsia or anything difficult, I don't think anyone would have a problem making their own Stanley (finishing notwithstanding!) :)

My son's also gotten to that age where if he asks for something handknit outright (read: not 'do you want me to make you a new sweater?'), I need to make it because unless its socks or toys, he's not having it. I'm glad he likes mittens (and that I actually had one done from last year when I tested out the then-new Noro Kureyon sock yarn via Article Pract).




Sorenson Kauni cardi-inspired toddler mittens
Noro Kureyon sock and Louet gems pearl

I have a crazy amount of that little ball left-- you can see the purple fading from dark to light, but the other colors were untouched (and still, more purple remains). I think I'll use it again for more wee mittens, stranding it since I think the straight Noro Kureyon sock will be too scratchy for little hands. Paired with the Louet Gems and fulled in hot soapy water, the mittens are nice and soft-- no excuse not to wear them aside from the beautiful weather lately.

And for those who can wear handknit (socks) in any weather...


PGR toe up socks
Ellen's Halfpint Farms sock yarn, US 1's (2.25mm)

I'd forgotten how amused I am seeing my feet look like a camel's when I take these pics :)

holiday projects

Projects, projects... things to do when everything else crashes down. :)

Child's placket neck pullover, one of many (MANY) intended knits for my nephew-to-be...


Child's placket neck pullover, errata here
Knit Picks Swish Worsted, 3 sks-- delft heather (darker than pictured)
US 9, 5.5mm 24" addis
Started and finished: 3 days in January

I can't remember if I intentionally purchased worsted over the dk Swish, but since my gauge was way off (4.5 sts/inch, instead of 5.25-- both "soft" fabric gauges) I used the smallest size directions and the 3rd size lengths for torso and arms... I ended up with a sweater sized for a 1-2 year old.

It was a nice mistake, seeing as I used less than 3 skeins of Swish for a relatively large size-- I used LMKG's suggestion of knitting the fabric softly and a little more open and the sweater is definitely next-to-skin soft (but a little airy, I'd not use the gauge in a sweater for myself but a toddler it'll be fine for pulling over something). Decided against buttons, partly b/c I hate finishing but also because mom insisted I send this one *right away* (so sister has something now, instead of a pile of sweaters later...) I don't get it, but it's just easier to acquiesce than to pick it apart and try to understand.

I also finished another baby project-- this time a small 20x30 woven blanket. I still need to twist the fringe (takes forever!) and wet finish it-- but I'm pleased with my first attempt at using color for patterns. A pic of the edges-- you can see the lower edge where I carried the colors alongside, and the upper 'plain' selvedge edge. They'll look better once washed up.



I had 2 balls each of Lana Gatto Wool Gatto in blues (4 total). I used 2 to direct warp the 25" length of the loom-- one slot in color a, the next in color b, the next in color a, etc. Then for the weft I used one up-down shed in color a (2 passes), one up-down combo in color b, one up-down in color a, etc. The effect is almost houndstooth-- I am planning to do this color pattern again in some contrasting yarns to really have it set out. (More pics of this little blanket to come after edges and washing done).

I also got a little spinning in, haven't spun much lately but Kristine gave me a gorgeous gift of mushroom-dyed fiber and mycophile I am-- couldn't resist. I alrernated spinning lengths of Finn and yak/silk into a soft single, and then warped my Flip with some white Henry's Attic Carrera (silk/wool). I practiced some pickup stick techniques from Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom and came up with a pretty float pattern that really shows off the mushroom-dyed weft...


(left and middle "right side", right "wrong side")

I love how the same dye looks against the 2 different fibers, how they shift. My favorite though is how the yak/silk glows in the sun, and how you can see the energy of the single held in place...



I also couldn't resist weaving another simple scarf for myself. This time, I went skinny and long-- WAY long.



Wrapped 2x around my neck, the fringe still falls to my knees. I dig it a lot, it's really different. The color gets me too-- I used 2 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed in "ginger", warping 12' long (!!) and 4.5" wide. I'm already weaving another (same dimensions) in A Verb for Keeping Warm's alpaca/silk... SO nice. I love the tweed though, orange always has me in its corner.



til then, weaving to keep the world away! :)

saved by stash

Amidst secret and not-so-secret holiday knitting (grandma afghan status: 2.5 panels of 4 done)... I managed to forget to make something for mom. Now, okay... see, last year she asked for (and received!) the merino-silk Hanami stole I knit, so I wasn't really thinking as far ahead as having a gift this year, just slipped my mind. She doesn't know I forgot, and she's one of those that would be aghast that I "forgot her"-- so stash diving I found some yarn that could be knit up in two days...




Alpaca with a Twist Big Baby-- 100% baby alpaca, bulky wt

...a really great pattern that would make a bulky alpaca hat even warmer, some gigantic needles, and yay!



A bulky baby alpaca set in two days with room to spare :)

For the scarf, I used 3+ skeins of Big Baby, doubled and knit in garter st over 12 sts on US 17 (12mm) needles. The hat is Thorpe, a fun top-down earflap hat that comes both plain and stranded. I knit mine using a skein each of 'natural' and 'harvest' on US 10's to give it more room (coming from big-headed stock)...



See?

I probably should have knit the headband/earflap panel on smaller needles, it is a bit larger than the stranded portion but still okay. I am hoping the stranding will help the alpaca keep its shape and not grow too much-- used garter for the scarf for the opposite reason and hope it will stretch even more than the 6' it's at now. I just discovered I like long scarves :) It is *crazy* heavy, and thick... warmer than Hanami for sure.

And mom will never know I forgot :)

Have a good holiday! And if Santa's listening-- what I *really* want is a year membership to the Grafton Fibers Colorways fiber club... 2 Grafton spindles plus a Grafton Fibers batt a month for a year! (I have not wanted to join a club so badly since... well since aVfKW, since Black Bunny Fibers, since the Bellwether's Rhyme Times... but still!! :))

Miss you!

or, how to avoid holiday deadline knitting

I'm not going to make it. However much you make me grin saying I'll make it, I won't... Grandma's afghan has 2 panels done and I need four. I could blame the hand and loom weaving obsession cutting into knitting time, but really, it'll be okay and no worries (she's already seen it in progress and is excited, which makes me excited, even if it'll be a week late :))

Lots of other little things done, but lots of little distractions as well. After coming home from a short holiday with family, I popped in on the Knit One One craft fair last weekend-- scored exactly what I went looking for too!


Girl on the Rocks merino-bamboo roving, 4.2oz-- "Fancy Luggage"

I haven't been buying fiber lately... I have some wonderful stuff waiting for me to spin in the fiber closet, belong to some awesome spinning clubs, some new partial fleeces *may* have stumbled their woolybullies into my house and are calling to be washed (why do I love washing fleece so much?!)... But! I was browsing Karrie's flickrstream via twitter and saw some beautiful fibers... she told me she and be at k11, and when I went browsing her etsy store saw this one and was like-- I'm going there for THAT.

I didn't plan on this though...


Stanley the penguin knitting kit from KnitWhits

SO CUTE!! I brought my son with me to k11 and he beelined to the KnitWhits table, *loving* this penguin designed by KnitSonya (hi!). So of course, sucker I am, promised to finish it for him by the holiday. (I'm hoping he forgot about it-- I stashed it and have been working on it when he goes to bed.)

This is the first kit I've ever knit from. Admittedly, I've always felt a little averse to kitted projects-- 'I could use stash yarn!' 'I could pick better colors!' 'I could dye better colors for cheaper!' etc. I have to say it was REALLY satisfying to just open this adorable box (perfect for gift giving, btw), and knit from already-wound skeins of coordinating yarns. I will be making at least one more for my sister's baby-to-be (!!) from stash yarn... but liked working from the kit a lot.

I should have picked up the kitted Elfin booties KnitWhits had as well-- ADORABLE. I know I'll be buying the pattern if I don't find a kit before my sister's baby shower.

Really though, you don't really need to leave the house to avoid the deadlines. You can just blame Kristine cos you're surrounded by amazing fiber you just can't keep your hands off of.


A Verb for Keeping Warm yak/silk, 2 oz-- "Capitan Pink's Lost Pearl"

Since this last aVfKW ultra fiber club shipment arrived, it has been just sitting on my desk taunting me with its loveliness. I told Christina I am besotted with angora lately-- it's not true. I'm head over heels for all soft, fuzzy fiber blends and my friends? Yak is amazingly soft, and halo-y, and gosh I shouldn't feel this way about an animal let alone its fur.

I've already spun up some yak/silk in another colorway, but I was impatient and already have it headed for the loom so no pics. Yet. :)

I do have some in progress pics of the last-last aVfKW club shipment though (I always wait to photograph them, hoping not to ruin anyone's surprise but then forget to take them at all :))...


aVfKW 2 oz baby alpaca-- "Witchy Woman" and 1.5 oz alpaca/silk-- black
(both fibers sent as club shipment)

Another soft soft soft fiber. Ultimate goal-- 2-plying the different colors into a super fat drapey yarn. For...? A cowl? Something to be snuggled in for sure.

MORE soft/fuzzy? Can't be.


Lavender sachet from spindlespun 70/30 aVfKW baby camel-silk-- "Succulent"
doubled and woven on the Weave-It

This was some of the first yarn I spun on a spindle. I still am, having 6 oz of the stuff...


Golding Tsunami spindle, .75 oz

Time flies and all that :)

I decided not to ply the singles before weaving, they look really cool doubled instead as woven fabric. The fuzz factor is super high and good too-- I'd be rubbing this all over my cheek if not for the super fresh lavender in a mesh bag I sewed up inside being way too strong for that. I'll make a bunch of these (lavender packs, not just in camel/silk) for little gifts and also perfect for slipping into the yarn and fiber stash, I'm thinking.

Aside from fiber, and spinning, and weaving away from meeting my handmade holiday goals, I had a hair to sort thru the large lots of Spin Off Magazines I'd been accumulating. And apparently duplicating all over the place!


just.the.duplicates

I'm destashing them, more info on specific issues over at Ravelry (and here at my 18+ tumblelog for non-ravellers).

Okay! Best of luck to all of you still racing towards holiday knitting deadlines :) Best wishes and thoughts if I don't see you before then, miss you!

up and then down again

Not for nothing, but my Flip has stolen most of my blogging thunder :) I sit down to write and am like-- I used to write about knitting, then spinning... but maybe weaving is too large a leap to make here? Still, the worry hasn't slowed me much and I have a grip of new scarves to show for it.


Socks that Rock lightweight, "Fred Flintstone"

I had slowly started getting rid of many of my multicolored sock yarns, opting to stash the semisolids instead. I held onto this skein for a while, being an orange and red girl, but I just didn't feel the pull of socks in its destiny. I think it does look fun woven up though...


6.5" width, ~60"length excluding fringe
10dpi reed, 72 ends, 9rpi

A random plaid in some places. I think the tight twist sock yarns make it harder to make a neat selvedge than a softer yarn might... I have some beautiful Zen Yarn Garden sock yarn that I want to test that idea with in a few. As much as I like the colors, I don't know if I like the scarf (I'm leaning towards slightly thinner, slightly longer ones lately)... I see myself accumulating a pile of these scarves, destined either for gifts or my etsy store.*

A fun experiment with this handspun cormo...


Hester, fleece from Cormo Sheep and Wool Farm
spun from batts, 2-ply heavy aran (90 gm, 88 yd)

I originally spun this testing for a heavy yarn for one of the Fine Fleece beauties... I later decided that I didn't want to card the cormo for that project, and still had this really soft, squishy, super fat yarn that seemed maybe even too short for a hat. Enter the loom and...


5" width, 57" excluding fringe
10dpi reed sleyed every other (so, 5dpi), 42 ends, ~7.5-8rpi

This one was fun for a few reasons... first, I can use handspun as warp! Everyone always tells you to be super careful about it, but this heavy 2-ply did well (and I put it under extreme tension to test the question out). I also was excited that alternating every other slot/hole on the heddle essentially "gave" me another 5dpi heddle-- I have been thinking about buying new heddles for heavier handspun yarns in the stash, and will eventually, but being able to use the 10dpi with the loom means I can put that off a little longer (they're expensive at $46/each, and can't be swapped with the less expensive Ashford heddles like they can on the Kromski Harp...)

Also, it was neat to see how the yarns reacted differently under tension and not-- the warp on the loom looked like an entirely different yarn weight than the weft as I was weaving, and I could see the warp gain some of the bounce when I was finished and cut it off of the loom. Fulling the scarf gently to really make the yarn pop and puff seemed to work as well.

This is easily the softest scarf of all-- maybe not just for the cormo content? The fulling? The heavier weight yarn? Dunno-- but I really like it. I found several batts of the same fiber I had carded up a while ago stashed in the back of my closet that I really wasn't interested in spinning, now I think I may spin up a few more heavy skeins of yarn for weaving.

This one was the most fun...


Hand Jive Knits Nature's Palette, granite and medium indigo (naturally dyed)

I bought this pair of skeins as a baby boy bootie project at the same time I bought the twin bsj yarns-- never got around to knitting them, even though they are really nice. I planned for a colorwork project... til my son said *he* wanted a scarf. The idea of weaving a 4" project on the loom didn't really appeal... til I wondered if I could do two of the same scarves at the same time. And I did! :)



Oh, my odd stick shuttles? Thomas the Tank Engine train tracks. My shortest shuttle is 15", then 21" so no way was I using those at the same time :) I had planned on letting my son weave one and me the other at the same time... but honestly couldn't stop once I had them warped after his bedtime and had them done by the time he woke the next morning.



The fabric on and off the loom is beautiful. But I don't really like the solidness of the color... I keep looking at the loom as the beallendall solution to "my! yarn! is! POOLING!" of multicolor yarns-- maybe I need to open up to the possibility that solids on the loom will be okay too.

As much as he protested he wanted one, no TWO and swore up and down he'd wear them...




4" wide, 44" long
10 dpi reed, 44 ends, 9rpi
(staged for your benefit :))

...he has worn one once and said "no thanks, maybe tomorrow" every day since. Oh well. Mine now.



Seriously though, these little-length scarves are cool for tucking into jackets where you don't want a bunch of bulk against your belly trying to keep your neck warm. Doubling up in two different colors is really pretty too, if I say so myself. The Nature's Palette is also really great feeling woven up-- not a super tight twist but really soft.

Well, there has been a little knitting (who forgot to tell me the holidays are coming and I needed to get cracking on my grandma's afghan?!) but it's just not as interesting as the fun I'm having weaving... so those pics and details will have to wait.

Til then! :)


*I'm heading home for a week or more and will be putting my etsy stitch marker store in 'vacation mode' while I'm gone-- no orders and no shipping during that time. I'll be shipping orders til this Wednesday and have added gift certificates to the shop with free shipping if you're looking for holiday gifts for the knitters on your list (and I can ship directly to them!)... If you're local, you can also find zero stitch markers at A Verb for Keeping Warm's retail store, The Workshop, starting Dec 6th (the day of their grand opening!)
Yay! :)

Rigid heddle weaving on a Schacht Flip the Folding Loom

I've been dancing around buying a rigid heddle loom and finally succumbed to the 25" Schacht Flip folding loom. Mind you, aside from weaving on a weave it I'd never touched a loom before, nor seen the one I wanted in person. If you're thinking about the twentyfive incher, it's big. With a 7"+ scarf in progress...



Okay, instead of a coke zero can for scale, how about my Schacht Matchless?



Coolest thing about this picture? My Matchless is 20 years old, and made from the same wood as my new-to-me Flip. Excited thinking it'll honeypot up over the years :)

As with each of my tools it seems, I bought it gently used with the stand. I wasn't planning on buying the stand, but am glad I did-- the loom, like I said, is huge! It really would be unwieldy on my lap leaning against a table's edge, and takes up more than half of my already-taxed dining room table. I thought to myself that I really would like the Flip, one of the reasons being I could fold it to put it away. Honestly I haven't in the week it's been here-- the loom's attached to the stand by four screws, two of which need a screwdriver (read: I'm lazy) and I'd still need a place to store the stand. So, it's been out and about, enjoying the living room instead.

For the size, perhaps if I saw it in person I'd have bought the 20" size instead. No matter... I've already found a creative way to use the length up (for a later post). I really do like the loom, no matter the length. Like I said, I was looking (erroneously?) for a folding version, and was torn between the Flip and the Kromski Harp. Initially I wanted the Flip, just for my happy relationship with my Matchless and the whole made in the USA thing... but I did ask opinions on Ravelry and got several good answers about the differences, including a link to a very helpful blog post side-by-siding the nonfolding Schacht + the Flip. Finding this one used sealed the deal for me, and I'm glad I went with my gut.

I love it. (Did I say that already?)


Sheep and Wool Co. Plain and Fancy Sport, "Fall Foliage"
(a gift from Margene I'd been hoarding!)


used and warp and weft


for a scarf.
7" wide, 6'+ long not incl. fringe (76 ends, 10dpi reed)


leftover waste, reminiscent of that shaving time

I immediately warped (using the direct warping method, no need to fear warping time w/ a RH loom) after cutting that one off...


Regia Bamboo, another gift! from retroknit


detail of fabric


another scarf. 7.5", 6'+ excluding fringe
(80 ends, 8 rpi, 10 dpi reed)

I love woven scarves so much. Too much. Committing stuff white people like atrocities like scarf + tshirt much. They're just different from handknit scarves-- thinner, not squishy, have a body and hand that wants to stand and be molded. Oh, did I mention they took me about 2 days each?

!!!

I'm really enjoying the loom though. It's very plug and play-- with a single copy of Hand on: Rigid Heddle Weaving (only reading the first chapter ;) I was impatient!) I was able to crank these, plus more, out. Weaving won't replace knitting for me, though-- it's not portable, limited in fabric shaping and items able to be made. Still, there are a lot of exciting options out there with a rigid heddle-- using pickup sticks to create patterns like in Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom, or patterns with more than one heddle like in The Xenakis Technique I don't see myself outgrowing the rigid heddle anytime soon.

If you're in the Bay Area/East Bay, both A Verb for Keeping Warm and Article Pract can order the Flip looms for you :)

Off to warp for some more scarves :)



ps... Schacht is doing so well with their folding rigid heddle Flip version that they're discontinuing the 25" non-folding model... so there are a few retailers out there discounting them for sale (from $199 to $140-159-- here's one, here's another, here's one on SF craigslist with a stand...). It doesn't fold, isn't equipped with the second heddle block standard, a few other changes (Schacht can tell you exactly the differences), but still-- buying it + a stand at $160 would be $300-320, $35-55 more than the 25" flip with no stand. I might have gone this way had I realized I wouldn't be folding Flip up much as it is :)

catching bullets

my brain's all over the place the past week, i don't even dare try to number these :)

* the asymmetrical cardi grows.



norah gaughan has created a super interesting construction here-- you knit the two front panels separately, increase on either side for the arms, work out the neck opening on either side, then join for the back and knit on down. fold at the shoulder, seam up the sides and under the arms for a non-interrupted pattern (and no need to set in sleeves when seaming.)

i've modded the arms to have more pattern and less cuff (and under the arms for a faster increase rate), we'll see if it works when its time to origami this thing up.

the color in both of these is really off... but who knew a cable could pop so much?



yay o-wool :)

* i went to the bay area bead extravaganza and brought home fistfuls of new pearl strands for my knitting stitch marker shop. my new favorite? biwa stick pearls. paired with other pearls and semiprecious stones the stitch markers look like little surfers on surfboards...


biwa stick pearl knitting stitch markers at zero.etsy.com

less valleygrrl but still fun...


sample of what's to be added to the shop over the next week

* i warned christina. when i went to this month's tahki stacy charles yarn tasting at article pract, i warned xtina i'd sit up at night and weave all of the yarn samples when i went home (i took my weave-it instead of knitting needles). which wasn't bad...


top left and clockwise: takhi tweedy alpaca, filatura di crosa zara, loop d loop moss, s charles trapper

...because, oh do i love stacy charles collezione trapper. 70/30 merino-cashmere, very reminiscent of felted tweed. but cashmere. oy. i want to marry it and have red tweedy babies. or a sweater. or knit it a sweater.

filatura di crosa superior may object though. i can't tell who's been leading who on.



i think there's enough squares to tack them together tip to tip (five times fast!) and end up with a cravat. of brushed cashmere and silk.

!!!

absolutely gorgeous woven up, the cashmere just fills in the blanks.



doesn't it always?

seriously, superior is the most decadent feeling yarn i've ever, ever encountered. thinking hard about making mary-heather's lace capelet with it (only one skein of superior! and i have a 25% coupon from the yarn tasting for as many tahki yarns as i'd like!)

* speaking of weaving, while at article pract (best yarn store in the bay area), i fell down on the no more yarn oh goodness no the boxes are still overflowing sort of not announced diet i've been on.


a verb for keeping warm 70/30 alpaca-silk

don't tell anyone, but i think kristine sold her soul to be able to dye such glorious colors using only natural dyes.

:)

how could i help myself though? it is an article pract staff pick for november (20% off!) and can you imagine what a great scarf it'll make? i'm really drawn to green lately too. weird.

* if you're in the bay area, this wednesday (11/12) there's a spinning meetup at knitoneone in berkeley between 7 and 9pm. well lit studio space (plenty of room for wheels tho i'm bringing a spindle) and BARTable via ashby. it's really neat sitting in a circle of spinners. tactile fiber arts' trunk show will still be on display, if you need a fiber/yarn fix mid-spinning :)

more info here on ravelry in the bay area spinners forum. we're renting the space ($60) and splitting the cost amongst us-- last time we had about ten people? good times! i'm bringing wisteria for show and tell :)


photo by wondermike-- header for the fabulous yknit podcast re: knit one one!

* did you have a good hallowe'en? we did. yes we did ;)



i think i'm all caught up :)

miss you!