Eleanor Completed

I didn't blog much about this sweater, but then I haven't blogged much lately period. It is made out of a lovely silk and alpaca yarn...Knit Picks Andean Silk in "Merlin". The pattern is called "Aquitaine." It is by Deborah Newton and appeared in the Winter 2009 Interweave Knits issue.

The sweater was a fairly relaxing knit. The lace pattern around the yoke and sleeves was intricate enough to be interesting, but simple enough to not completely stress me out. I like the way that the sweater fits...the measurements in the pattern are dead on, which was a relief. It also didn't take very long, comparatively speaking...and speaking of comparisons, this sweater was an absolute job compared to the Clementine.

Also...this is a very very very very warm sweater. gotta be the alpaca.

Demands of My Sister

My sister gave me a gift card to Debbie Macomber's yarn shop for Christmas. This was delightful because it meant I had to go to the yarn shop before I left town. (Twist my arm...such punishment...)

We went to the shop and I walked around looking at literally every yarn available. I wanted to pick something out that I couldn't easily get online. I also wanted something that would have that festive, Christmas gift feel...so not dishcloth yarn...As I meandered about petting and squishing the pretty skeins, my mom and sister also wandered about.

Eventually Sister came over. Apparently she had found a hat that she HAD to have. Which translates to she found a hat that I was supposed to make for her. This happens fairly regularly when Sister and I go to yarn shops. It isn't that she can't knit. She can. I am pretty sure that we have taught her how. It is more that she doesn't see the point in it when I make her everything her heart desires.

I looked at the pattern and said I would make it if she bought the yarn for it. I would even pay for the pattern. (She seemed shocked that she had to buy the yarn...but that's the way the cookie crumbles.)

She picked out some lovely wool. I made the hat when I got back to TX. I must really love her to make something with stranded color work. I hate color work. It worked out well though, and she was very grateful when it came in the mail...Kentucky has been having LOTS of snow days this winter.

(Oh, and I bought myself some alpaca with the gift card...it is not yet assigned a project...)

O Canada! I Love to Shop In Thee!

While we were in Victoria, I forced my ever patient family to walk a good distance to a yarn shop I found in the yellow pages. (It was weird having to resort to analog research techniques...seeing as how I didn't want to pay the international rates to use my cell phone.)

We easily found the Beehive Wool Shop on Douglas Street...I loved that it was a wool shop, instead of a yarn shop. (Does that mean it is an LWS instead of an LYS?) It had a lot of space, great light, and loads of charm. The staff was delightfully helpful as well. AND it has been in business for over a century. AMAZING. Loved it. Highly recommend it. Go to Canada. Go to Victoria. Go to this shop.

I, of course, purchased some yarn. I wanted it to be Canadian yarn, er...wool, so I selected a skein of Tough Love sock yarn from Sweet Georgia Yarns. This yarn company is located in Vancouver, Canada...and the yarn is hand dyed. I dithered back and forth on the colorway before settling on "Violet Hill".

The fun thing was that when we got back to the ferry's customs to cross back into the US, the customs official asked if I had anything to declare. He sure gave me a funny look when I said yarn!

Completions

I have been VERY productive this semester, as mentioned previously. Here are a few of the things I have finished. (This is not a complete rundown, since some of the projects were commissions, which I will talk about tomorrow, or are Christmas gifts, which I will show you after the holiday!)

Three Towers:
A few months ago I was ordering yarn from KnitPicks and needed to spend another $3 in order to get free shipping...so I ordered a ball of Swish DK Yarn in Merriwether...a color they don't seem to have anymore. When it arrived, I realized that it was almost the same color as Sister's eyes, and decided use it to make a beret for her. I had come across a stitch pattern that looked like the Eiffel Tower. Since Sister and I visited Paris together, I thought it would be fun to try and incorporate that into my standard beret. The result? The Three Towers.

Grimm Scarf:
I had initially hoped to submit the pattern for my blood and shadows scarf to KnitPicks. Who knows? I still might. In order to do so, I needed to knit a version of it out of one of their yarns. I bought a skein of the Imagination Hand Painted Sock Yarn in Wicked Witch. I also decided that the scarf pattern needed a new name. Since the original scarf was made as an homage to vampire literature, I knew I wanted a name that was dark. At the same time, I wanted to tie the name into the fantasy nature of the yarn colourways. How handy that some of the best fairy tales were written by the Brothers Grimm. I finished the scarf while I was in Kentucky a few weeks ago.

Shrug:
I made myself a shrug out of KnitPicks Shamrock yarn in Campbell. I LOVED working with this yarn. The color changes in it kept the knitting interesting, even though the pattern was the single most brainless project I think I have ever done! The pattern was the free Lion Brand Stockinette Shrug. I've linked to it, but it may require a membership to view. It is a REALLY easy pattern. You knit a really long rectangle with ribbing at each end, and then seam up the sides. It is crazy. And I think it is very flattering. (Also, it is very warm...being Shetland wool and all...)

Clementine Cardi:
I sort of almost finished this one. But I am still mad at it. No pictures until I get to Washington.

Colton Scarf:
After I finished the Baby^3 Blanket, I had odd amounts of the various yarns left over. What to do? What to do? And then it hit me...make a version of the scarf that goes with everything! I did a 2x2 ribbed scarf, changing yarns at random points throughout. It came out beautifully. I'm giving it to BFF for Christmas so that she can match the baby! (I'm pretty sure she doesn't read the blog, so I feel perfectly safe posting it here...)I think that this is a really great way to use up the stash as well. I have lots of little teeny tiny scrap balls that are just begging to be scarfed up!

Clementine Cardigan: The Continuing Saga

Previously in posts about the Clementine Cardigan: I found a typo in the pattern, after reknitting the collar SEVERAL times. Then, I discovered that the pattern didn't call for enough yarn, and had a mini panic attack before ordering 450 more yards from KnitPicks...

And now, the rest of the story...thus far...

After ordering the supplemental yarn, I set the offending cardigan aside, and worked on something far less frustrating. A week or so later the yarn arrived, but I was still mad at the sweater, so I put the yarn on the shelf and ignored it for a while. (Which was actually kind of sad. It wasn't the sweater's fault, after all. It was the pattern designer's.)

Eventually I did pick it back up. I joined my new yarn on, and finished the body and the button bands. I picked up the stitches for the right sleeve. I knit down the sleeve. I completed the sleeve and looked at the amount of yarn I had left.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE ENOUGH YARN TO FINISH THE SECOND SLEEVE!!!! WHAT IS THIS THING? THE BLACK HOLE OF YARN??!!!???

At this point the entire sweater and needles and pattern went flying across the living room, and I burst into tears. I would have cursed at the sweater designer had I not been a good Christian girl. (As it is, I may have wished some horrible yarn tangles on her...)

Once again I called KnitPicks. Once again they shipped me more yarn. (Bless you KnitPicks telephone operators. You are little rays of light in a dark hole of knitting despair!)

I ordered 3 more skeins, since that is how many it would take to finish the second sleeve.

The new yarn came, and the second sleeve was finished. (By the way, please note that the pattern called for 950 yards of yarn. By the time I was finished with it I had ordered a total of 1650 yards of the Shine Worsted...and I have, exactly, 23 yards left over.)

And yet, that is not the last frustration with the sweater from...ahem...well, you know where...

I live in such a podunk little town in West Texas now, that I cannot find a single store that has 12 matching buttons to sew to this stupid thing!

Seriously?

I guess I will go button shopping when I am in WA at Christmas. Until then, I see no earthly reason why I should weave in my ends. The sweater doesn't deserve to have its ends woven in. It can just wear the tails in shame. The stinking ends can stinking wait till I'm stinking home.

I'm not even going to dignify it with a photo at this point.

Home Sweet Home

Being in California for the weekend means that I can go to my "happy place"...



Knit This Purl That!

It is so nice to be home!

(Thank you Twilight for taking me, and helping me complete and then redeem my stash card!)

Fuzzy Math

I am working on the Clementine Cardigan.

The pattern calls for 912 yards of yarn.

I purchased 975 yards of yarn.

I ran out before working the button bands OR the sleeves.

What?

I immediately called KnitPicks...

(Well, maybe not immediately. I went over my math again. I threw a couple of throw pillows. I called my mom long distance to vent. THEN I called KnitPicks.)

Luckily they had some of the same dye lot still in stock.

I ordered 6 more skeins.

Which is an additional 450 yards.

I sure hope that's enough!

Clementine Cardi

As I mentioned in my last post, I have started work on a version of the Brompton Cardigan out of Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Clementine. (And let me just say, this yarn is a DREAM to work with. It has amazing stitch definition, and is very soft. It doesn't dry my hands out like some yarns have a tendency to do.)

I cast on the cardigan while I was at my grandparents' house last weekend.

I cast it on, and merrily started working on the basketweave collar. I knit about 6 rows. It did not look right. At all.

I figured that I had messed up back towards the beginning. At this point it was going to be faster to rip it all out and start over than to try to frog back 5 rows.

So I ripped it all out.

I started again. This time I paid more attention and realized by the fourth row that it did not look right. At all.

I read the pattern carefully. Hmmm...if the pattern is a multiple of four, then this stitch pattern has an error in it. It appears to be written for knitting in the round, but I am knitting the collar flat. Huh.

I checked the pattern online, looking for links to any errata. Someone else had commented that the basketweave pattern appeared to be mistyped. The designer disagreed, but stated that it was basically a 2x2 rib that alternated every 3 rows.

If that is the case then the pattern WAS written wrong!

I ripped it out again, and this time IGNORED the stitch pattern and knit a 2x2 rib, alternating every 3 rows.

Success!

I don't know which was more frustrating, that the designer wouldn't admit she typed the pattern wrong...or the fact that I knew it was wrong, but kept trying it anyway.

(I have now moved on, and am trucking my way through the raglan shaping and stockinette...with fingers crossed that the remainder of the pattern is written correctly.)

It Fits!!!!

I finished the German Herringbone skirt from Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits! (I never named this project...strange...it was just the skirt...) The best part is...it fits PERFECTLY!!!!! This is the first full garment (meaning non-accessory item) that actually fits exactly the way I had envisioned in my head! Now I just need to find a cute top to wear with it.

It wasn't a simple project knit, but it wasn't difficult either. The stitch pattern required attention and counting, so I couldn't just brainlessly go at it. But it was very straightforward and well written. I made a few adjustments to the pattern, which just goes to show that I can be taught! Check gauge. Measure often. Try things on. And, despite the fact that I added several repeats of the herringbone to the skirt, I actually ended up with one entire skein of yarn leftover at the end. (Not sure what I'll do with it...I'm sure I'll think of something.)

The only truly disconcerting moment during construction occurred a couple of days ago. I had just finished the reverse stockinette rows, and moved onto the stockinette yoke. I was sitting sideways on my couch. It just so happened that I was wearing shorts, and the skirt was laying over my legs...so I got a pretty good idea of what it was going to look like on. That's when I realized the horrible truth:

The color of the yarn (harbour) was the exact same shade of teal as the veins in my legs! That's right, folks, the skirt brought out the lovely color of my circulatory system running beneath my extremely pale and translucent skin.

Not cool.

Definitely not something I ever thought I would need to worry about when selecting yarn colors though. (I think if I wear stockings though, it won't be at all noticeable...or I could just attempt to actually tan...)

Despite the color foible, it is a GREAT skirt. I am THRILLED with it...and will take more photo-shooty pictures once I find an appropriate top.

Life without a LYS

Abilene, Abilene,prettiest town I've ever seen...

...has NO YARN SHOP!!!!

Now, there are places to buy yarn in town. You can get yarn from Wal-Mart. You can get yarn from one of the two craft stores...Michaels or Hobby Lobby. However selling yarn does not a yarn shop make.

At first this was disconcerting to me. I was going to have to drive at least 2 hours into Dallas to find a "local" yarn shop. (Can one call it local when it is over 100 miles away?)

There were solutions. I adore KnitPicks. Jimmy Beans Wool is also nice. I could order yarn and have it shipped to me. I could make sure and ALWAYS find a local yarn shop to visit when I traveled. But what about when I just wanted to squeeze a skein of cashmere? Yarn shop trips are major stress busters for me!

Then I unpacked.

Hmmm...

I guess I do have a local yarn shop.



My stash!

Smart for Once

I am currently working on the German Herringbone Skirt in Custom Knits.

There have been a few sizing issues with the other projects I have made from this book (MGM, Tilney). Please note: these issues have not in anyway diminished my love for the book!

This time I was smart. I measured it to find out what length I was getting from each repeat of the pattern. Then I multiplied that measurement by the total number of repeats the pattern called for, and added the 4.5" of the yoke. It was going to be SHORTER than I wanted...so I fixed it AHEAD OF TIME!

I know. How unusual for me.

I ended up adding an additional pattern repeat between each of the decreases. This means I SHOULD get an appropriately modest length. I will even try it on before I start the yoke.

Now my only concern is running out of yarn!

Epic Fail

ARGH!!!!

I have been knitting happily along on the Tilney Sweater...in fact, I am this close to finishing. Or, at least, I was this close to finishing.

I knew going in that I needed to lengthen the sweater(I like my sweaters a little longer than normal), so I bought an extra skein of yarn. Then, just to doubly ensure that I had enough yarn for the length, I went ahead and finished the sleeves and neck ruffle before I did the body's lower hem ribbing. I figured I would try it on before I moved the body back over from the waste yarn, and see how much longer exactly I needed to make it.

I tried it on at Blondie's house the other night. Epic Fail.

The sweater is INCHES bigger around than I need it to be.

I have no idea why this is.

I actually did a gauge swatch this time...and I got gauge.

I even made it a smaller size so that it would have negative ease...just like Wendy Bernard said to do in the lovely, well-written text.

(I have a 39" actual bust measurement...she recommended having 2-3" negative ease...so I made the size for 37"...)

I am flummoxed.

I will clearly need to unravel the majority of the work. I think I will just unravel the WHOLE THING, and reuse the yarn for a sweater vest. The yarn, while the right gauge, is...sturdier?...than I would like. Wendy's version in the book is made from an alpaca/silk blend, and mine was 100% merino. I still really want to make Tilney. I love it. I adore it. It is the reason I bought the book. I just need to find a drapier yarn to make it from.

And clearly, I need to make a MUCH smaller size, and try it on FREQUENTLY.

Technology Failure

I didn't want to lug Custom Knits up here to WA with me...but I didn't have a chance to photocopy the pages I needed for the skirt I am working on.

That's fine. I have an iPhone. It has a handy dandy notepad feature. As you may recall from an earlier post, I had previously typed the pertinent parts of the pattern into my phone. And by previously, I mean over a week ago.

Epic fail.

By the time I got past the first notation for decreases, I couldn't remember whether or not the number of completed pattern repeats I had listed were cumulative. The first decrease came after seven repeats. Then I had written 10 repeats, second decrease. Did this mean that I needed to knit 10 more repeats before the decrease, or that I needed to decrease after the 10th from the cast on?

ARGH!!!

Luckily I have a tendency to overpack knitting-wise, and have other projects to work on.

Maybe I will get a chance to glance at a copy of the book at a store today or tomorrow.

If not, I just hauled 7 skeins of yarn across 2 state lines for nothing!

A Few Needles Short of a Commission

On Wednesday night, Perky asked me if I could make her another (Fort) Knox beanie. This time she wanted it in black.

I thought about it, for maybe a millisecond, and agreed. They are fairly quick knits, they make for good movie/social knitting, and I had plenty of good black wool in the stash. In an impetuous moment (so out of character for me...), I told her I would have it Sunday morning.

Then I got home.

I found the yarn.

I could not find the needles.

I went through my entire bag of needles.

Then I saw them. My 16" US size 6 circular needles.

They were attached to half of a rust (Fort) Knox beanie that I had cast on a couple of weeks ago.

I had two options:

1. I could move the rust beanie over to waste yarn and recover the needles.
2. I could finish the rust beanie, and then cast on the black one.

Option 1 was probably the smarter and more practical choice.

So of course I chose option 2! (I knew in my heart of hearts that once that rust beanie was on waste yarn, it would languish in the stash...never to be heard from again.)

Luckily I knit FAST!

I finished the rust beanie Thursday night at Preach and Psych's house.

I cast on the black one Friday night.

I finished the black one Saturday night.

I even wove in the ends!

D(one). C(omplete). Socks

I finished the Gotham socks while I was stuck at home sick on Wednesday...seeing as how I didn't have the right size needle to finish the Tilney sweater.

I think they are great!

I had never used this yarn before (Crystal Palace's Panda Superwash), and it is very cushy. I also used my new knitpicks sock needles, which were a delight as well.

The only slight issue was that the needles are very slick, and the yarn was a bit slippery. If I knit with this yarn again, I will most likely use my Susan Boyle needles which are coated with something. But, the new needles will be amazing with some of my wool sock yarns that tended to stick to the old needles.

Innovation on the Fly

I had some yarn left over from Jester's latest beret. Since it was Cascade 220, and therefore feltable, I thought about using it to crank out a couple of coffee cup cozies.

It was very pretty yarn, with various colored plies twisted together.

I got ready to cast on my coffee cup cozy, and then my mind wandered...

...what would happen if I cast on an oversized coffee cup cozy and made it into a hat?

And thus the Java Beanie was born.

Because the stitch pattern I use on the coffee cup cozies is an offset rib, it made the decreases on this hat, well, a wee bit interesting. I actually did quite a bit of tinking and frogging as I worked on it.

Also, that very pretty yarn didn't exactly show up the actual pattern at all.

Still, it is a nice hat. And it fits well. I may try again with a solid yarn and see if I can refine the decrease process a bit. The other option would be to *gasp* try a top down hat.

Sameness

I am fairly predictable when it comes to color.

My favorite color is orange.

I knit a lot of oranges/rusts/reds/browns.

When people give me yarn they tend to give me a lot of oranges/rusts/reds/browns.

The other color I knit a lot of is grey. I love grey. It doesn't show dirt like white, and it highlights stitch patterns better than black. It is elegant. It is neutral. It is classy.

I decided a few months ago that I needed to break out of my mold.

I needed to try knitting things not in oranges/rusts/reds/browns and not in grey.

So I ordered a bunch of yarn from KnitPicks. I bought yarn at my yarn shop.

...and everything I bought color coordinates.

It is all turquoise/blue/green/purple.

All of it.

(Proof of this is visible in the picture on my knitpicks package post.)

I guess if I really want to experience knitting hue variety I need to print off a picture of the color wheel and work my way around clockwise from project to project or something...

Predictability. It is a curse.

Arrival of a Package

A package came LAST Monday.

A package from KnitPicks.

It was patiently waiting on my patio when I got home from the airport.

Pretty yarn.

Very pretty yarn.

Very pretty pettable yarn.

I had to ignore the pretty pettable yarn for a week as I rushed to finish my schoolwork and work work.

But now I opened the yarn.

The pretty yarn.

The very pretty yarn.

The very pretty pettable yarn.

Will I be able to stop petting it long enough to pop some of it on the swift and ball it up?

That remains to be seen.

...

...

...still petting.

Review: Crafty Hands Yarn Shop

Sister had to teach on Friday, so I took her to her school in the morning, and then had the use of her car until lunch time. I decided to treat myself to the local yarn shop here in Bowling Green, Kentucky!

Crafty Hands Yarn Shop is conveniently located across the parking lot from a Starbucks. It is VERY easy to find. It is on the main drag, right off the freeway. (I mean, after all, even I found it...and without resorting to my iphone's GPS.)

I was greeted by a friendly staff person as soon as I walked in the door. She was bubbly and outgoing. She showed me where the Cascade 220 was, and then wound the skein I needed to complete a project I was working on. I was especially grateful for the fact that as she wound the yarn, she left me alone to browse. Nothing irks me more than looming salespeople.

She saw me admiring some koigu, and showed me a cardigan pattern in a book that uses Koigu AND Cascade 220 in a slipstitch pattern. (It was pretty...but was the only pattern in the whole book that I liked. I decided not to buy the book...I am getting it at the library instead.)

I ended up leaving the shop with one skein of Cascade 220, one skein of Koigu, and a skein of Ty-Dy cotton sock yarn.

And then I went across the parking lot to pick up a coffee.

Heaven.

If you happen to be in the Bowling Green area, I highly recommend this shop. Friendly staff...great selection of yarns...well organized and open floor plan.



[The pictures are from the shop's website...I forgot to take my camera in with me.]

Tax Returns

Thanks to Sister, and a timely phone call...I discovered that I was eligible for a tax refund I didn't know about.

This literally added some zeros to the amount I thought I would be getting back from the IRS.

I will be responsible with my windfall.

I will put half in savings as a cushion.

I will use half to pay down my debts.

But...

I will also allow myself a teeny tiny amount of "fun" money with which to purchase the yarn I needed (wanted) for a skirt I am making out of Custom Knits!

Woo-Hoo!

KnitPicks online shopping cart...HERE I COME!!!