Photo Finish

Against all odds, I finished my Bella Paquita before the end of March, the deadline for the Sexy Knitters Club KAL.

Please excuse the truly awful photo. It's pouring rain today, my boyfriend is at work, and I have about five minutes before I need to leave for a meeting.



I have so many thoughts about this project, and I plan to take much better photos, all of which I will post soon.

But I just wanted to pat myself on the back that yes, I set myself a goal and I reached it! Phew!

Look Ma, Seams!

Today was a huge day for me as a knitter.



I hunkered down with The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie Wiseman and resolved not to stand up until I had set in the sleeves for my Bella Paquita.



I stared at the diagrams and read the text over and over until I understood the weaving stitch (which I gather is the same as mattress stitch?).

I did everything she told me to: I pressed the pieces, I worked on a flat surface, I carefully pinned it together...

And it worked!!!



I finally, properly LEARNED HOW TO SEAM!



My seams are nowhere near perfect, but they're also not the glaringly awful results I got with my previous haphazard stabby sutures technique. As in, I would wear these sleeves in public.



I have only a few more days to finish this sweater for the knitalong, but I am just thrilled to have overcome what has thus far been my greatest knitting obstacle!

FO - Tempting

I actually finished my Tempting a while ago, but I only just had a sunny afternoon and the inclination to photograph it.



As a sweater it's lovely... but I am not completely sure how I feel about it as a sweater on me.




Pattern: Tempting by Jenna Adorno, free pattern from Knitty Winter 2004
Size: L (40")
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, 100% acrylic, worsted weight, color 2710 Gray Heather, 2.2 skeins or approximately 726 yards
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 8 (5.00mm) and Knit Picks 8" double-pointed needles, size 8 (5.00mm)
Notions: Offray 2-1/4" wide black grosgrain ribbon
Modifications: added a touch of length

Started: August 18, 2007
Finished: February 16, 2008



I actually finished knitting this way back in October 2007, but it took me several months to thread the ribbon, tie the bow and call it finished.

The construction was fantastically simple, though I did have some bones to pick with the way the arms are attached. Nothing major, but I keep wondering if there is a better way of doing it.

I'm tempted (heh) to stammer lots of things in my own defense, that this sweater looked a lot better on me a month ago, but let's just lay it out there.



It's a style I've never worn before, which was a lot of its appeal. Knitting is pretty fabulous for the opportunity to make a completely new-to-me silhouette and try out fashions which are custom-fit for me.

The trouble is, I actually think this came out a little big on me in some places, so rather than the ribbing clinging in a sexy, stretchy way, it kind of hangs in a baggy way. I didn't really have the right gauge with this yarn, so I needed more than the pattern called for to get the proper row gauge. The top then ended up a little long once the yarn stretched with the weight of hanging on the body. Live and learn.



Onto the positives. I love, love, love the neckline.



I cannot even begin to describe how many tries it took me to thread the ribbon in a way that it wouldn't curl (simple solution: fold it in half).



I also figured out the bow largely by trial and error, and I must humbly retract any statements I've ever made along the lines of "how hard can it be to tie a bow?" and "it's just like tying your shoes, but with ribbon!"



I do, admittedly, fuss with it a lot still when I'm wearing this top.

I really like the way the neck curves around the shoulders, and it's incredibly comfortable to wear. The yarn feels great against my skin and I hear it washes beautifully, which is encouraging.



With an improvement in my gym habits, I think this will easily become a favorite top. I wore it out to a party the day I finished it, and my friends were all very kind and enthusiastic. I wondered if I would have a use for a short-sleeved, open-neck sweater, but it turns out it's the perfect thing to wear to a crowded bar on a cold night. I suspect it will fare as well this spring and summer too.

Previous Entries on this Project:
- Notes from the pile
- Knitting is good company
- Tempt tempt tempt
- Unconscious Knitting
- A Tempting Tempting
- Moving Right Along

One Year

I was sort of stunned to realize the other day that today is my one-year blogiversary.



I have had so much fun learning about knitting, meeting new people, and immersing myself in this wonderful hobby.

Blogging about knitting has been such a treat because it's put me in touch with such lovely like-minded folks. Thank you for reading, commenting, and doing what you do! I'm looking forward to great things in the next year.

A Knitted Gnome

When I was at my parents' house this weekend, my mom had a little pile of yarns on a desk in my old bedroom. They included purple and green tweed, gray mohair, and tan wool.



I thought they were great looking, so I asked if I could have them. Having already given me all her needles a year ago, my mother said sure, that's why she put the yarn in my room.

"There's a pattern there, too," she said, and I ran back upstairs to see this adorable leaflet from 1987, Instructions for Making a Knitted Gnome by Darian Dragge. Suddenly I remembered my mother making gnome dolls years ago, and in that instant I positively needed to knit a gnome myself.



The kit indicated "all natural materials" and included a cute story about gnomes with instructions to make a 10" stuffed doll. It's really straightforward and easy, and in no time at all, I'd whipped up gnome pants and the beginning of a gnome face.



My plan is to knit all the pieces, then weigh the green bits to determine if I have enough of the purple tweed to make an entirely purple gnome.

I'm pretty excited about this project, as I've never knit a doll or toy before and these gnomes are spectacularly cute. If this works out as well as I hope, I see several more gnomes in my future. Heee!

Knitters are the nicest people in the world

Recently, a very nice knitter named Julia (purlia on Ravelry) contacted me because I'd mentioned that I love colorful anodized aluminum knitting needles.

Preferring bamboos herself, she had a large collection of various sizes that she wanted to give to me. Awesome!!!

But the awesome didn't just stop at the needles:



I am thoroughly convinced that knitters are the most generous, thoughtful human beings in the world. My boyfriend looked over my shoulder in amazement as I pulled out so many fun, sweet treats.



This funny card had beautiful stitch markers inside.



She included Halls Vitamin C drops (my favorites) and tissues with the note "Because you've been sick". So sweet!

I am thoroughly enjoying Lindt chocolate truffles and drinking chocolate - they may be a secret recovery cure.



A note taped to light-up needles addressed my recent insomnia, "For when you can't sleep but don't want to wake the boyfriend." He's never seen these needles before and thought they were a positively brilliant invention.



This Lantern Moon needle case is gorgeous in my two favorite colors:



And my goodness, she put in a skein of Malabrigo Worsted in a breath-takingly lovely shade of Forest green.



I've never felt Malabrigo in person before, much less owned a skein, and it is everything it's rumored to be - so soft and luxurious in the hand and such an intense and rich blend of colors.

The needles themselves were overwhelmingly cool, in colors I've never seen!



They are a fantastic array of sizes, and yes, I've already cast on a new project with them. I think so much of the appeal of knitting is the sensory pleasures and all these beautiful supplies.



As you can see, I've been completely spoiled rotten, and I am thrilled. It's totally heart-warming to know there are such generous, kind people who share this hobby I love.

Thank you so much, Julia!!! You made my day!

FO - Toe-Up Eye of Partridge Heel Socks

I haven't slept in about 34 hours, and somehow these socks fit that mood just right.



Crazy socks? Don't mind if I do.



Pattern: Generic Toe-Up Slip-Stitch Heel Formula (PDF) by Sarah Keller, free pattern posted at Knot Another Hat Blog.
Size: women's 9
Yarn: Regia Color 4-ply, 75% wool 25% polyamide, fingering weight, color 5346
Needles: Knit Picks 6" nickel-plated DPNs, size 1.5 (2.25mm)
Modifications: used Eye of Partridge in place of slip stitch in heel

Started: February 1, 2008
Finished: March 8, 2008

Almost everything about these socks was a new technique for me.



I started with a figure-8 cast-on, which was a lot easier and more straightforward than I thought it would be. I was following the instructions exactly, so I started with 8 stitches. I think if I were to do it again, I'd use 12 or 16, since I was increasing to 72 stitches circumference for these socks.



I enjoyed the gusset shaping and toe-up heel flap. It gives the sock a more comfortable fit than a short-row heel, though I wish the heel flap were longer.

Eye of Partridge is a really easy stitch. You simply alternate knit and slip stitches between rows (you could think of it as staggering every other row by one stitch). This heel flap started with a slip stitch. To make it Eye of Partridge, I worked as follows:

Row 1: Slip 1, *K1, sl1* - Repeat from * to end of flap.
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Slip 1, K1, *K1, sl1* - Repeat between *'s to end of flap.
Row 4: Purl

Alternate Rows 1 & 2 for heel flap.

(Other descriptions can be found here, and this page has directions and a nice chart.)



Lastly, I finished them with 2x2 ribbing and I used a stretchy bind-off, which I learned about in a Ravelry forum. Essentially it goes:

Knit first 2 stitches. Insert left needle through loops of stitches on right needle and knit them together. With one stitch on the needle, knit the next stitch, then knit these two together. Continue thusly all around cuff.

It made for a very nice, comfortable bind-off, and it's a rather neat solution for toe-up socks.

I think the most obvious and prominent feature of these socks is the yarn. In the skein, it really looked pretty tame, but as I began knitting it, it started flashing these crazy color sequences.



Eventually they pooled together into psychedelic designs that traveled all over. Whereas normally I hope variegated yarn doesn't ever do stuff like this, I found myself rooting for it. When faced with one awesome Shazam sock and the possibility of a mismatch, yes, I actually did find the same color sequence for the beginning and tried to get them to flash in the same way.



Though these two skeins were from the same dye lot and looked identical in balls, one had definitively more white than the other. At first this really bothered me, but as I look at them, I don't think normalcy is the real goal at hand here.



(By the way, these are most definitely wear-around-the-house socks, whatever super powers they may bestow upon me.)



I had a lot of fun knitting these because the color was constantly changing every few stitches and leaving wacky hallucinogenic trails in its wake. I kind of love these socks because they are so, so weird.



(And yeah, all these pictures enlarge.)



Now I think I'd better take some medicine and attempt to rest, before these happy feet dance their way straight to the insane asylum.

Previous Entries on this Project:
- Colorful Frogging
- About those resolutions...

Knitsomnia

This past week I came down with a pretty nasty sore throat and chest cough. Frankly, I blame undergrads.

Somehow, nighttime formula Robitussin - by which I mean the super extra-drowsy kind with all kinds of warnings - does not make me sleepy. Not even remotely tired. In fact, it makes my heart race and gives me insomnia. Meanwhile non-drowsy daytime sinus decongestants or heck, those sugar-free vitamin C cough drops, make me want to pass out in a drooling coma.

My point is that I've had a lot of time when I've been not sleeping and feeling lousy. Knitting has been my primary means of preserving sanity.



I cast on Molly Ringwald, from the Fall 2006 Knitscene, and it's coming along nicely.

I've been trying to figure out why I like the color of this yarn (Bernat Satin in Sage) so much, and I think it's because it reminds me of ground malachite, my favorite pigment in painting (when ground it's more like this).

I just wish all this 3x1 ribbing would go faster!

Seduced

One of my knitting resolutions this year is to knit a pair of socks every month. The Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry has been extremely helpful in keeping me focused on this task, as they have monthly challenges and - best for me - two months to complete each pair.

The March challenge includes the option of a pair of socks designed by Ann Budd, and as it happens, I like so many of her patterns that perhaps the hardest part was choosing which one to knit.



I went with the Seduction Socks, from the spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits, also available online (PDF) for free. This pattern is really enjoyable and simple, and it zips along over 56 stitches on size 2 needles.



I've chosen to do these toe-up so that I can use all of my yarn and so that I can increase the length of the cuff. I am knitting the lace pattern as written, without flipping it upside down, as it is highly symmetrical and I think it looks good this way.

Keep things simple, right?

Colorful Frogging

This is how far along I got on my second Toe-up Eye of Partridge Heel sock before I realized that I'd done the toe wrong:



Usually when I increase, I use a kfb (knit front & back), and I tuck it one stitch in from the edges. In this case, I'd done them right at the edges, which was making a gapping, stiff, weirdly folding toe.



It just wouldn't do. I thought about how much I'd worked on these already (through the entirety of Sense and Sensibility, at least!), but in the end I thought it wasn't just a problem of mismatching, it was a structural deficiency, and I really couldn't live with it.



Oh, what lovely frogging. And can you believe that I wound all this back up without a single knot, tangle, or snag?

Because the figure-8 cast-on is so truly effortless, I was back up and running in no time, and I've since surpassed this progress.

Speaking of colorful yarn spaghetti, I really enjoyed these photos of an as yet unmentioned project.



It gives me the sense of knitting as a hugely complex, tentacled monster which encroaches upon all order and normalcy. Or as perhaps an island of calm in a chaotic sea.



Thankfully, this project is going a lot smoother than one might expect from such thoughts.