Monday, November 26, 2012

How much?

Remember how I listed all of the knitting I would take with me to the mountains?
Well, I certainly didn't live up to my expectations... I put the finishing touches on ONE item,.... after I got home.
What got in the way?
Beautiful weather, monstrous mountains, inviting geocaches, thin air, comfy hotel, and lazy days.  Those first three items were confined to 6 hours of sunlight a day... the sun didn't shine until it cleared the mountain (a 14,000 ft'er) at its peak about 9:15 AM and disappeared behind another peak... (I wondered how it could be so exact, and not go down at a lower elevation or valley...) at 3: 20 PM.
Somehow, I/we wiled away the hours days and I "only" accomplished one project, but it's a good one!
I used leftover yarn from a pullover (in February):
And made this:
It may be a bit on the short side... but we'll see in a few weeks, when it gets modeled.
I used a Norwegian pattern for both of these and Dale of Norway "Falk" yarn.  (Click to enlarge.)
Ahhhhh.  A week of R&K.  I could get used to that!

Monday, November 12, 2012

More Art Forms

This isn't like me, but tonight I stumbled upon two great areas... (I'm not in the least enticed to attempt them, but I like looking!)
First, I follow Astronomy pictures.  Here's an astronomy Quilt!  Fascinating use of colors and shapes... and the next solar eclipse?
Second, I did something as simple as "Next Blog" when viewing my own last post.  And I found this:  Jewelry, which doesn't interest me in the least, yet somehow I couldn't stop myself from scrolling down, picture after picture.
Is this cheating?  Showing off the work of others?  Hope you don't feel cheated...

Friday, November 9, 2012

Less than perfect

The maximizer in me just won't let it go.  The continuing saga of "Sojourner."
First, you can see what happens when I re-knit with yarn that has been kinked from blocking. And it "almost" looks like I twisted the stitches I picked when continuing the stockinette.  (I don't think I did...) The stitches have a different shape. Fingers crossed that will resolve itself with a second blocking.

By the way, you are seeing the back neck edge with seed stitch continuing from the front button bands. Big question:  How do you make a decent, discrete join where they meet?  (It's not in the instructions, my friends!)
I took a tip from Nancie Wiseman.  She wrote in The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques which is my go-to source of "how-to's".  She doesn't address seed stitch, but there was a kitchener method of using waste yarn that I thought might be helpful.  I added an extra row to both ends using waste yarn, and attempted to duplicate stitch over it.  Here's what it looked like (not a pretty sight)!
Loose ends EVERYWHERE!  And what I got? That's in the first picture.  It looks OK at the top edge, but I must have missed something at the first few stitches.  (Yes, lavender is difficult to photograph... every picture is a different color.  Really, it's all the same.)
Here I am, modeling my sweater, which is totally wearable, and feels YUMMY WONDERFUL on this chilly day, and I don't WANT to take it off (WAAAHHH!) to undo the "messed up kitchener"... (pout).

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Can't wait...

Every day for a week, I think, blog-sojourner-blog-sojourner-blog-sojourner...  Quite consuming!! Yet I have a class to prepare for (four days a week), and rehearsals and laundry and meals and... 
I really WANT to finish my Sojourner Sweater and I really want to show it off in my blog post.
It's SOOOO close now, and I'm running on fumes here, so here it is:  Incomplete.
Decided to block before seaming:
 The sleeves...
 After I seamed the shoulders, I discovered that the back was too long.  I ripped out down to the stitch holder:  !!  Quite a lot, but it fits nicely.
 Next worry:  Will the sleeves fit?  Maybe...
It's a nice dk weight... I'm motivated!  I want to wear it!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Can Cozy!

After everyone was stressed out by cables, there was a request to have a go at color work.  I put together a little project to use two colors at a time.  For some, it was a snap!  Others found they weren't THAT interested, and that's ok!
A couple of comments about stranded (two-color knitting):

  • We used 100% wool, so if the 36 stitches weren't quite right for your container (can or bottle), try swishing it around in hot water, and letting it dry on the container for a perfect fit.
  • I forgot to mention that I learned the hard way to keep track of which hand is holding which color.  For example, if you hold the red in your right hand, and the blue in your left, keep it that way.  I found that by switching part way through a project, there was a noticeable difference. (I have to write it down... I'll old.)

Of course, your can or bottle won't be offended!
We also learned a new cast-on:  Estonian Double Cast On, by Nancy Bush.  You can find it on youtube.  And I finished mine off doing the Estonian Double Bind Off... They almost match.  Here's where I found those instructions:  Cindy's Sock Knitting

Stocking stuffers, anyone?

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