Knitting to stay sane

Starting something, when I had many others on needles, is the thing to do, just to make oneself happy...  Most of all, I need to have socks on needles in case I have to go out.  But who's going out these days?  Not me.  So I started socks with this beautiful yarn only to discover that it was SOOOO beautiful that I couldn't stand the thought of wearing it on my feet!

Using my book of  Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders I found this pattern called Celeste Shawl.  The photos in the book really didn't do it justice, and I was fully prepared to get to a point where it would be disappointing and I would rip it out.

But it didn't disappoint, and with blocking to bring out a pointed edge, I LOVE IT!  And the color!!!

 Yarn: Rockshelter Sock by Meadowcroft Dyeworks.  100% merino. YUM!
And speaking of YUM...

I'm learning about sourdough bread making.  This is definitely my best attempt at making the "big hole" type of "rustic" sourdough.  A friend shared her starter, and recipe, and with the help of the Internet I've been making bread 2-3 times a week.  

Plus, the need for face masks... I've made 4 so far, for ourselves.  I've been tempted to make them in great numbers like my friends have, to give to the many who are requesting them, yet, when I get done with 2 (at a time) I'm not as eager to continue.

Stay safe!

Knitting spring

Post concert:

Putting in 3 hours a day of practice time on location, 20 minutes away, took a toll on knitting and weaving at home.  A few days ago, I sat at my loom and apologized for my neglect.  It happily tightened up, and grew 10"... still not sure what it will be when it grows up and leaves home.

This "first sock" took 3 weeks to crank out.  Stricken is the pattern by Cookie A from Knit, Sock, Love. Using a Trysil Garn, purchased at a little variety store in Bergen which is wool and nylon blend with almost no twist (no plies).  It's a bit fuzzy, but perfect for hiding my "forgetful" rows.

My NEED FOR BEADS... Always look to Laura Nelkin.  From her Just One More collection, I used a variation of her bead placement to make this little thing.  It's going to be cozy around the neck.  (Note to self: Get those ends woven in for May in Norway.)

Saw this fetching pattern in a pattern email...spontaneous purchase, and grabbed my Kauni from the stash.  Just wait! I'm purposely NOT giving clues.

Took 5 tries to get the drift of the brioche section!  I just couldn't make it come out right...because the pattern left out wyif in instructions.  Bad!  Luckily I remembered an Interweave Knits magazine with lovely brioche feature...so, yes, Lisa, Dianna and Kay, those magazines from Winter 2010 have a use.  Also, I had a look at some YouTube clips, but they didn't do the trick.  Three cheers for: yfsl1yo and sl1yof!  Brilliant stitch guide on page 90.

I'm back in gear!

Wrap of the decade...

A real Wrap-in-progress!

This is my Wrap Me Up that I knitted in 2008, as per instructions.  It was a long, wide scarf.  Too wide to wear around your neck, so it was a "wrap".  It didn't take me long to feel really warm and cozy around my shoulders, but it wouldn't cover much of my back, and none of my "backside".  And I felt chilly.  You can see all of the photos, from my first version, on Ravelry.

In 2010, I cut it in two.  Not exactly in half, because the blocks didn't split it in half, I sewed them together to make 90º, and it became more of a shawl/poncho combination. Above, the seam is at the thicker blue line on the left.  However, now one side is longer, as my dog (bad dog) is pointing out below.

Definitely wearable, and super warm, covers my "backside" nicely, but I still felt like tugging on it to compensate for the unevenness.
Step 2,041 (or so):  I found I had two of the same yarns in my stash, I added a third (the light blue), and I added on this piece.

I SOOOO loved the squiggly blue trim/line, so it was a no brainer that I would repeat that motif. And now, I have a shawl that is warm, relatively even in length, and fun to wear. 2008-2015, almost a decade--and it has changed less than the iPhone!

Wrap Me Up

by Chris de Longpré

from Knitting at Knoon Designs

A Lesson Learned?

Five years ago I knitted an excruciatingly complex shawl.  "Europa" Crescent...tiny needles, lace weight yarn, nupps, double decreases, you name it... it's all there!  And I loved that shawl... even though I wore it mostly bunched up around my neck under a jacket where the lace features couldn't be appreciated.  And I lost that shawl.  I looked for it at the end of last year just as I wanted to pack it with me to Norway,  and I was SURE it was going to shake out of a sleeve or hanger.  But it hasn't, and I began moping...
No more than two minutes after completing my Mosaic Cardigan I went to my stash, and pulled out some lace weight I've had for YEARS, and I cast on---all 643 stitches for Europa Crescent II.

What have I learned from my past teeth-gnashing?  The cast on has to be loose to get "points".  So I dutifully used two needles, and so far...

looks like it worked.  And don't forget the "lifeline"!

After the pointy section of Chart A, I remembered why there was teeth-gnashing five years ago.  (Remember, Pattie?  I had Europa I on the Pacific Ocean.)  Nemesis chart B:  Nupps.  Since then, I attended a class with Nancy Bush, and she patiently showed us the beauty of nupps, and I swear I paid attention and I don't remember saying to myself that I would never do that again... however, trying to stick my needle through 4 stitches and 3 yarn overs to make one purl stitch umpteen times in the first row, I was having flashbacks of throwing a certain project overboard somewhere near the International Dateline.  

By the time I was halfway through the second row of nupps, I recalled that I had resorted to a tiny crochet hook which would "more successfully" do the trick.  I was still picking up stray loops, and picking up new (to me) vocabulary.  But I persevered until the LAST row of nupps.  

(Aside:  Looking at the above photo, I don't have the capability of putting in a giant ARROW to point to the many nupps...and the thought crossed my mind--WHY was I putting myself through this pain when I really didn't see them?  The truth...I remembered thinking the same thing 5 years ago, and when blocked, I could see them.  I don't know if anyone else could but...)  

So back to the last row of nupps.  Another thought... I wonder if "lace" tip Addis are made just for this type of knitting...?  And I went to my closet, pulled out the lace tip Addis, and... DANG!  It worked.  Now maybe, if I had started with lace tips, I wouldn't have thought of this as such an epiphany, but they sure made my LAST ROW of nupps less painful.  Will I remember?  Will I ever venture into nupp territory again?  I hope I'm quicker to use "the right tool".  Needles: 2.5 mm

Nupp:  Into one stitch k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1.
Next row: Purl all 7 together to make one stitch.

Ponchos - Who's for and who's against?

Am I a child of the 70's?  Yes, and no.  I date back farther...  really a child of the 60's, or 50's.  That makes me want to revolt when I see styles from those decades.  (Remember, Pattie?  In early 2000's I said I would NEVER wear "clam diggers"... and I've eaten those words.)
What about ponchos?  I've knitted several, and I love the ease of throwing them over my head... around the house.  Somehow, they've made it back into my heart!
Imagine my surprise when I decided to adapt a shawl pattern into a poncho!  It's not like there are too few poncho patterns, but I REALLLLLY loved this shawl pattern, and I REALLLLLLY don't need another shawl...  so here's my result:

Pattern:  Suki by Miriam Pike from Sherwood Knits
Yarn:  Casbah Sock by Handmaiden Fine Yarn
Fingering / 4 ply, 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon,355 yards / 115 grams

I gave high ratings on Ravelry for both the pattern and yarn.  This is going to be my Best Friend for...awhile!

P.S.: I bought the pattern alone through Ravelry.

P.P.S.:  How many shawls do I have?  I'm not even going there...

Charybdis Blocking Storm

Finished my shawl... but not without teeth gnashing, nail biting, and several shout-outs to fellow Ravelry Charybdis knitters.  Everyone assured me it would be all right!
But first, the bind off:

To bind off, this very neat edging was created.  Five stitches and turn, five stitches back for 2 stitches bound off.  It took several sessions, including knit nite.
Then to the end, and the scary part:  Dropping two stitches along each end.

The six middle stitches get kitchenered together 3x3 to form the point of the shawl.  Then the unraveling:

It looks a mess, and is meant to be a picot-type edging.  But not without a little help...

One hundred zillion loops first pinned with my 20 pins, then transferred to blocking wires, painfully teased out of wherever they tried to hide.  I ignored the inner circle edge--it has loops, too, but I was tired positive that they would disappear when I wrapped it around me after much hard work.
Next... drying... modeling...

Can't Weave ALL the time!

Meanwhile, I've been knitting my shawl in my cotton "wolle" with the g-r-a-d-u-a---l color changes.  At first, or until two days ago, I thought I might not have enough shawl to get as far as the peach color, but now I've started a second ball, and am working back to the darker color.

Yes, it started at the right point, and I'm not sure how it will end!

Pattern: Charybdis by Kerry Milani from Creative Knitting, July 2012

Yarn: Color Changing Cotton 100 gr by Wolle's Yarn Creations Fingering / 4 ply
100% Cotton 480 yards / 100 grams

And what about THIS cutie!?!  No comment necessary...:)

Old, New and Finished!

I was very surprised after yesterday's post to discover I had only 10 rows to do, and though that doesn't really seem like it was close to finished, I knitted a few more rows.  THEN I was seeing the end... The last 8 rows are border lace, with 2 rows of beads (which slows down the knitting), and with each completed row I felt like I shouldn't stop.  And I didn't, until...

There I was, blocking!!  Yippee!  And points, just like I promised myself.  Remember I started this in September, and finished in less than 2 month.  But, my cast-on wouldn't let me pull those points out.  After languishing almost 2 months, unblocked, I knitted gifts and this and that.  Finally, December 30, I started to knit a new one from the old one, and made sure I had a super stretchy cast-on, only to rip that one out and cast-on a bit firmer, but still stretchy.  I've been holding my breath since the beginning of the year, waiting for this day!
It's Spring, and I love it.  Thank you, Susanna IC!

 Polaris by Susanna IC from ArtQualia Designs

Yarn:  Hand Paint Lace by Misti Alpaca, Lace / 2 ply
100% Alpaca, 875 yards / 100 grams

I used 60 grams, and 11 grams of beads. 

Two problems solved:

1. The bind off edge instructions: "*p2tog, return st to left needle; rep from * to end of row; a strong non-stretchy bind off is essential in order for the crescent shape to form during blocking."  It was SO rigid, and restricting that I was sure I'd have a circle when I blocked, so I frogged it, and bound off with a simple k2, pass first stitch over.
2. Again, a repeat of Oslo Walk Shawl, I found a hole.  It was made by a yarn over, which increased the whole thing by one stitch, which I fixed when I got to the lace top border.  This yarn over was close to the top tip of a big diamond... about five rows into the short row section.  This time, I didn't have to rip it all out, but was able to crochet it down to the diamond and fasten it with a little extra yarn.  Hardly noticeable, until you LOOK!  LOL  This sort of thing makes it "handmade". Right?

Other posts: 

Better, this time! Tuesday, Jan 10 2012

Resolutions... As if! Monday, Jan 02 2012

Tale of Two Shawls: Part 2 Saturday, Nov 05 2011
Tale of Two Shawls: Part 1 Friday, Nov 04 2011

Good needles, Bad needles Sunday, Oct 02 2011

?? Wednesday, Sep 14 2011

Old and New

Being away the month of February, has caused that month to become the watershed for old and new projects.
This one, is old and new:  My KAL Polaris Shawl.  I presume no one is 'knitting along' so it's all mine now!
History:  Started as KAL, and kept up, finished, but just before blocking I noticed that the cast on edge was not loose enough to accommodate the lovely points that were intended.  I was sure of it because I had recently finished another Susanna IC shawl with exact same result.  NO points.
I decided to keep the first shawl/scarf and I love it - color, yarn, beads, ... all of it.  And I wear it proudly around my neck... with no points.
Polaris... You have to tow the line... Points you will have!
Here's what's left of version 1:

It was once a complete shawl, like this:

And now I have this:

Those points are going to POP! Or else, I'll be having a very bad day...
I have a few more of the short rows, though they are the longest of the short rows, and then the top border.  No deadline... and five other projects on needles, all calling out to me!

Better, this time!

Could I really do it?  Frog a whole lace shawl?  You betcha!
At the top is the first attempt, finished November 1, 2011.  Why, WHY!!  Why couldn't I get points to appear at the bottom edge?  The second attempt which I started December 30, has a purposely stretchy cast-on.  What a difference!
The pins:  In both pieces, the pins in the bottom edge are at every second bead.  Can you see that the top one is pinned at four beads, and the bottom is pinned at "almost" three beads.  That one stretchy cast on!

 In fact, the pattern looks...

 bigger, too!

 But I assure you, I used the same needles... It's the cast on.  The greenish blue needle is the one I used on both projects.  I know because it turned greenish blue from the first knitting.  Here are more needles from the same set to show how they started out.

It was with a sign of relief that I pinned these out and discovered I don't have to cast on AGAIN!    Time to start thinking about a life-line...

Resolutions... As if!

I write things and often occasionally regret it.  A few days ago, my "no new year resolutions" post, looks and feels wrong once I got to read it published... I certainly don't mean that there's nothing to "fix" in my life, it's just that I'm hesitant to be optimistic about fixing things.  I guess if I haven't fixed things by now, it must be OK. Please!  Don't put up with my behavior!
As far as knitting, I'm not changing... in fact, before I got the last post published, I did this:

Look familiar?  It should... it's my KAL shawl from earlier this year: Part One and Part Two. That's the shawl (Polaris) all bundled up in the netting.  As I unravel it and re-knit it, I'm trying to capture the beads as they are set free.  The purpose?  I'm making a second attempt at a LOOOOOSE cast on.  I use three different cast-0n's and I have NO idea which one I used.  Lace weight... really difficult to see (so why do I bother?).

Tip for me and anyone else:  if you are taking notes about your projects, make a note about what type of cast-on you use.  

It has been quite frustrating to find that it wasn't stretchy enough for beautiful points at the bottom of the shawl, and I discovered a strange phenomenon*:  My cast-on stitches slide around.  Hard to describe but on the two shawls I knitted this year, I discovered that I could pull the stitches from side to side, like they are sliding on a single strand of yarn.  Some day I'll figure out what that's all about, in the meantime, it's no good for forming points on shawls.

Before I started for real, I did a little swatch/trial run of three different cast-on methods.  One is my normal cast-on that I learned from day one which involves a finger, a needle and a long-tail.  I suspect that this is the cast-on I used.  Then I tried a stretchy cast-on that a friend recommended, and I have never used before.  She found it here in video form.  It IS very stretchy but since I haven't seen it before, it might be a bit... ummm, too stretchy, and odd looking.  So I tried out number three which is a stretchy cast-on that I saw Nancy Bush demonstrate (Estonian?) for the top of socks.  I've used it a lot, and it's very pretty!

Estonian double cast on

And it won... So I finished Row 1, which is really the second row after cast-on and now I remember why I knitted right along on this project:  The beads!  I love to see them, and and and... well, hopefully I will stay motivated.

*Another phenomenon:  I have discovered that I've been mispronouncing "phenomenon" and therefore can't spell it without looking it up in google.  I always start with "phenomenom" and wonder what's wrong!  Never too old to learn to speak and spell!  happy new year!!

Tale of Two Shawls: Part 2

OWS completed!  SO happy with it.  No more holes and this is how I've been wearing it:

 Where did all of that work go? (See Part 1)
Meanwhile, stop me if you can... I finished the Polaris Shawl.  Looks great in this picture, but think how great it will look if I block it!

Then again, I sadly realize that there will be NO points, no double points as in the beautiful pattern picture... I obviously don't know how to cast on loosely.  I've accepted it in the OWS but I'm thinking how much MORE I would love this shawl if I frogged the whole thing and REALLY concentrated on a loose cast on.  OR I could try to cast on loosely and even complete the bottom beaded part without frogging.  I probably have enough to make a second shawl...  Let's not be rash.  Knit night is Thursday... advice before then?

Tale of Two Shawls: Part 1

KAL Mystery Shawl is now revealed as Polaris.

OWS (Oslo Walk Shawl) re-visited.
As I spent my first evening on the couch after 3 weeks of toddler activity, I began work on the Polaris above, examining each stitch, looking for those pesky dropped stitches, or worse yet, a stray yarn over.  Four weeks had passed since I blocked my OWS and discovered a hole MID-CENTER.  I don't know how it could have escaped me until after binding off and blocking!  OK.  Maybe I was a tad excited to finish...  Here's the last blog about it, carefully avoiding mention of a hole:  Blocking link
I've admitted it to all my groups:  Knit night group, exclaiming it won't be noticed when it's around my neck, and I "could" take another piece of yarn and tie it closed, or something.  I even proudly showed it off to my knitting classes to demonstrate that 'stuff happens' and it's not the end of the world.  So there I was: At the end of the world.  And that night I chose to DO something about it.
First I spent a half hour with yarn and needle, trying to make it look, well, ... er,... perfect, and surprise!  It didn't.  Then I took a crochet hook and tried to create an extra stitch from the hole all the way down to... it wasn't pretty.  After an hour of head scratching, I resolved it would have to go.  I picked up a row of stitches below it and bravely pulled out the bind off edge.

I knew what I was getting into:  Short rows are worked into that whole "yarn over" section, and I was ready for much more tink'ing and almost certain frogging the whole project, but I persevered!

One side was indeed not on the same row, so hours later I was satisfied I had found a place to begin.  I re-read the instructions and started to knit, and this was the result.

I commented to a friend how horrible my stitches looked compared to the evenness of the blocked part, and she, insightfully, asked if I had used the same unraveled, blocked yarn to make those stitches, and, of course, she's right. The yarn was trying to hold its shape from the previous knitting. But there's NO HOLE in the center panel.  (Cheering!)

It blocked out nicely, and, AHhhhh, all is well with the world.

 No, Susanna, I didn't frog the 'whole' thing to capture the beautiful points at the bottom (cast on) edge.  And the beads (green) show up very noticeably in real life.

Meanwhile, I found a pesky dropped stitch in my Polaris...  better keep looking for more!

Busy WIP's

Yes, it's been over a week, and I've been scrambling for time.  Time for everything. Somehow I'm teaching again, and it greatly interferes with my knitting,... and blogging, time.
When I've had a few moments, I end up reading everyone else's blog and never getting to writing anything of my own.
Here's what I have to report:
On needles:
Romper, waiting for a quiet moment to start the finishing!  Needs the button bands, buttons and short sleeves.

Very cute with the off-set front opening.  The second leg is finished - they are the same length.
Mystery KAL:  A shawl by Susanna IC which is more fun than I imagined - getting 10+ rows at a time.  It's a mystery, so I'm not supposed to share.  If you want to see the first 22 rows, you'll have to look on Ravelry.
Meanwhile, I have my own little challenge going on.  I decided if I was to KAL a shawl that I should take time to knit my own shawl that has been started (one row) since last March. It's been frogged several times, has beads and all the lace and is also designed by Susanna IC.  So I have TWO shawls simultaneously creeping along...  Here's the Oslo Walk Shawl:

Why, I ask myself, should I be knitting two more shawls.  For the past week by Europa shawl has been my constant companion.  It stays in my bag for cool moments, and accompanies me out of the house in the brisk morning air.  I really like it more than I ever imagined;  it isn't all lacey like the above but many rows of stockinette.  And in 3 weeks I'll be spiffing up my lace techniques with Nancy Bush when she visits Yarn Durango (Colorado). But I digress... there's more:
Like the socks I started side-by-side.  Or not really 'started' at the same time, but they are side-by-side...now.

Then I have another toddler pullover, a lightweight cardigan for myself, and a cow waiting in the wings.  Better put my feet up!