Rhinebeck and back

My head is still spinning a bit from our trip to Rhinebeck: so many sheep, so many colors, so many really ugly FOs.

I managed to bulk up my stash a bit with some lace yarn from Sliver Moon and some worsted merino and more lace from Morehouse. I have more projects that I want to be knitting that I can't even sit down to work more on my Monkey sock.





One of the best things about the trip was being able to see Western Massachusetts in full autumn (while listening to This American Life podcasts!). NB was soo kind to drive the 3 hours to Upstate NY. What a fabulous day!

Knitting Update

Ah, so it's been far too long between posts. For me, school's back in session and my week is pretty much packed with school work and ballet class. For the time that I do have for knitting, I've been spending it on ravelry.com adding more and more projects to my queue.

Here's a quick update:

Lelah is still going strong, but the cooler weather plus my slow knitting has resulted in not much progress. I finished the first skein and am still on the lace part. I'm doing 12 repeats of 6 rows and only have 5 repeats left. After that it's just a bunch of stockingette stitch with decreases. I also want to add straps but have been unsatisfied with the examples that I've seen. Most straps are too thin and the other's have severe rolling issues that require crab stitching around the edges and extreme steaming to get them to lay somewhat flat. I've been toying with the idea of doing the straps in single or double moss stitch. I'm concerned that it'll look too busy.

Socktober Fest!
Nancy and I have started on Monkey for our Socktober Fest. We bought yarn, swatched, figured our yarn was definitely too thick for the socks. I'm buying new yarn today so that I can get a good start on them this weekend.

I'm also thinking ahead for Christmas. I learned my lesson last time not to knit people things for gifts, but I have two things that I should get done: a camo hat for Dad (b/c honestly, what else am I going to use that yarn for), and a earwarmer for Mom to match her scarf.

Summer projects

Yikes! It's been almost a month since my last post. There hasn't been too much to post about though. Knitting-wise, the Brea Bag project has hit a snag do to being indecisive about how to line the bag. I bought a bunch of cotton fabric and was debating how to attach the fabric to the knitting. I think I've settled on making a pattern from the bag pieces before they are all sewn together, sewing an identical fabric bag together and using iron-on facing to attach it to the knitted bag. Also, the crab stitching around the top edges has been somewhat frustrating to me and has deterred me from working more on it.

In other knitting project news, I've begun my first ever article of clothing. I've chosen the Lelah cami to knit. I think that I rather like knitting lace and this pattern is simple (only a 6-row repeat) so that I won't want to disown it by the time I've finished it.

For the camisole I chose a gray-colored, worsted weight yarn by Cotton Fleece. The yarn itself is a 80% cotton, 20% merino blend.

I've modified the pattern a bit by using No. 8 circular needles for the lace part and No. 6 circulars for the stockinette part. I perused some of the finished pictures of the pattern on Ravelry.com and didn't like the floppiness of most of them. I also desired to minimize the peepshow effect of the stockinette stitch with a too loose gauge. I'm also planning on adding a few extra rounds of the lace knitting so that the top falls to my hips. I think that I'll put straps on it and not have this as a tube top.

Ravelry, Woo Hoo.

I just got my approved invite to Ravelry! I'm loving all the little features and surprises. The designers have thought of all the details that I usually skip right over when I'm blogging. I like how it supplements the blogging about knitting experience without replacing it. If you want to just use Ravelry, I guess you could.

Anyway, they have a way to keep track of all your WIPs with pictures and needle/yarn details, your stash, your needle collection (with a printable little card in PDF!).

Well, you'll know what I'll be doing until the wee hours tonight.

What I NEED!!!

I must have a

Big Dotty (from M-D knitting)

Toilet Seat Cover!!!

That is what my bathroom needs.

Organizing the Stash

I finally decided to get down to business and organize my knitting stash. I was keeping all my yarn in a plastic bag that was next to my knitting chair and consequently right under an open window: not the best place for keeping yarn clean and moth-free. I also had accumulated enough notions that whenever I move something on my chair or footstool a cascade of tinkering double-pointed needles would follow.

Mixed feelings--Finished Project

Here's a picture of my finished baby kimono after it was blocked on top and before it was blocked on the bottom (I think). To me it looks a little disproportionate--wider than it should be. Oh well. I haven't seen Kristin's baby yet and have no idea that it will fit.

My First Swatch/dishrag

Here's the first thing I ever knitted. It's so very ugly! It was supposed to be a rectangle but somehow it has managed to be shaped like my home state, Missouri. I've had a few people comment that I'm a meticulous knitter, i.e. slow. Now people can see what happens if I'm not careful.

Handbag--In Progress

My knitted bag project is coming along well. I've finished the first side of the bag and only need to repeat the front side as the back and knit the gusset. I've also have been thinking of lining the bag with some cotton fabric; I just need to find some. Boston seems to be rather lacking in fabric stores.

Roar! Grrr!

Lion Washcloth

Lesson Learned

You really need to read a pattern BEFORE you go to the store to buy your supplies. This I learned today as I was swatching for my new knitted bag project. I didn't have the called for No.9 needles so I picked up some new bamboo ones at Windsor Button along with the called for yarn in a beautiful deep purple. I was watching tv and knitting my little swatch on my 9" No.9's. All was going well, I had doubled my yarn so that I was knitting two strands at a time. I finished, checked the gauge (which was ok, but that's another story), ripped out my swatch and looked at the pattern.

Ooops! Yeah, CO 126 of double stranded Ultra Alpaca. 126 stitches! I went ahead and started to cast on my stitches, squishing them tightly. I could only get on about 70 stitches. Looks like I'm heading back to my LYS.

Project Collaboration, II

Have you made any mitred squares yourself? From the sounds of things over on the Mason-Dixon blog, they're really addicting. Once you start making them you can't stop. And since I already can't stop making the MD ballband warshrags, I'm not sure I'm ready to take on another addiction at this time.

But I am intrigued by the collaboration idea. It would be cool if we made individual squares or something and then sewed them into an afghan or something. If we just made sure the finished squares turned out a certain size, then we wouldn't have to worry about gauge and all, right? (Unless we were doing all mitres--if the gauge wasn't consistent the stripes wouldn't match up.)

In a sort-of unrelated note, I've been wanting to make another zig-zag pattern "ugly blanket" for a couple of years now. The one you gave me is so great looking that I fantasize about making another one in hot pink, yellow, orange, and red. Or in crayola colors: pink, yellow, light green, regular green. And turquoise should be in there somewhere too. And in wool this time, instead of the original ugly blanket acrylic.

WIP update

Argosy scarf--done. It's a little itchy. I like the pattern so much that I want to make another one.

Giant dishcloth baby blanket--frog? Very boring. May be OK if I add a crocheted ruffle around the edge, but I don't know if I can stay awake long enough to get there.

Leaf-pattern scarf--too hard/wrong yarn? I have about 6 inches completed in pink malabrigo. It's very soft, and the pattern is beautiful. Maybe malabrigo is too soft and fuzzy though. A yarn with more of a twist would produce better stitch definition. Since the pattern is so slow-going, I want everyone to at least be able to see the pattern better.

Ball-Band Warshrag--in progress. How many of these things have I made already? 10? The one I'm working on now is hot pink/varigated hot pink-white-lilac. It will scare the food off dishes.

Mittens. I have one cuff done. Hmm. The Misti Alpaca yarn is so nice I don't know what to make out of it. Maybe I should use a rougher yarn for the mittens and use the Misti for another scarf? Since I wear a scarf every single day here, I can't really have too many scarves.

Socks for mom, socks for dad. Don't ask. At least I finally found the directions for the socks for dad.

Project Collaboration

So I've been doing much brainstorming about what projects I want to do in the future. I've been spending more time browsing the web for ideas and inspiration, and while looking at the Mason-Dixon site, I remembered the beautiful log cabin blankets that they have. So my proposal is that we (Aidan, that includes you) would knit one together. We could each either collaborate on the colors or one person could start with a few colors and the other one would independently pick matching/contrasting colors. What do you think? One of us would knit a square and then send it on to the other. In the end we could give it as a gift (or, not) to a third party or one of us could get it (but then we might be obligated to make a second one.)

I personally don't know if I have it in me to knit an entire blanket myself. Let me know your thoughts, Aidan.

P.S. This is also a test to see if you're even paying attention to the blog anymore. I have doubts about your commitment to Sparkle Motion, er, Load of Knit.

Wheel Rental?

Oh, oh, oh! I just found that Adrian Bizilla of Hello Yarn has a spinning wheel that you can rent for $10/week and you can take spinning lessons for $30/hr including materials! Even better, Hello Yarn is based in the Boston area and is accessible via the T. Maybe not what I need now since I'm not even managing my current knitting projects very well, but maybe I'll be more ready in the fall.

Shooting for...

I've just linked a fabulous blog, BrooklynTweed, under links to the right. This blog is awesome! I'm very, very jealous of it. This is the form of the knitting blog. The knitting blog qua knitting blog if you will. I find it both inspiring, beautifully laid out, informative, and a great resource for links.

For example, I'm finishing up the baby kimono for my friend Kristin, and then I found BrooklynTweed's baby sweater, which came from Elliphantom Knits. Yikes! It's so beautiful.

Finally Finals are Finished

Phew! I'm starting to recover from the finals marathon and starting to think of knitting again. I need to finish the baby kimono that I started eons ago. Preferably I'll have it done by the time the kid is born.

I just wanted to share with everyone a new knitters social networking site, Ravelry (another networking site, I know). You can't register yet but you can get on the waiting list to be a member. It sounds like a good place to go for inspiration at least.

Techknitting website

Arg...finals are killing me and my knitting projects. That said, while procrastinating before heading to school for my Torts exam (Derby Day and Cinco de Mayo, it's too much), I found this site, Techknitting. There are some great Intarsia instructions that started to inspire me to want to create my own Cosby Sweater. There are also good hints about things like how to uncurl nylon circular needles.

Thank you Knittinghelp.com

The Argosy scarf (previously referred to accidentally as the Argonaut--I think I need a style manual or an editorial board or something), anyway, the Argosy scarf requires a cable cast-on for the new little extensions out to the side. The first couple times I did made them using the backward-loop method. Sure, it's so easy it seems like cheating, but at that point I was struggling with learning the pattern, so it felt justified. Now that I'm 3/4 of the way done with the scarf, I finally looked up how to do the cable cast on. It's easy. I feel silly for waiting so long to do the thing the right way. The little extensions look so much better with the cable cast-on edge!

Maybe I'll just have to knit an Argosy II or Argosy Jr.

P.S. Emily, did you ever find the original malabrigo scarf in the lost and found? Sniff. Sniff.

It's not like it was a necklace made out of Macaroni

So I just deleted one of my entries from yesterday because I realized that it was a bit too harsh. The substance of the post was a tirade about why you shouldn't knit for non-knitters. I guess I had to learn my lesson the hard way and even though I might not stop knitting for my friends/family I will adjust my expectations of what response I get. Really, it is about the giving and not about the pat on the back in the end. No one, not even another knitter, can really now about all that you put into a piece, even if it is a dishcloth.

For those of you that didn't read my post yesterday, and I hope that was most of you, I'll give you a small recap. I think that my experience has a good discussion value.

I recently completed a scarf that I found to be rather challenging. The recipient was grateful and appreciative and all; however, when the recipient showed the scarf to one of her friends the resulting comment that it looked "like an expensive one, not one that was homemade." This incensed me even though I could see in intended compliment of quality. It is from the same type of person who would say "why make it when you can buy one in the store."

What do others think? Am I too sensitive about my knitted products? What are the elements of value? Why are people ashamed of having something homemade in the first place? When did the "store bought" items become the desired items? Is it a class issue? Why is homemade an insult but handmade is a compliment?