Knitasha von Stashenskeins

Oh for goodness sake!

Why haven't I been blogging? It isn't like I have nothing to talk about! I have been knitting things, spinning yarn, reading books. Plenty to share.

I think part of the problem is that I am never at my desktop anymore. In December I bought myself a Kindle Fire and it has become my #1 web browser device. For backup I have my iTouch, which is handy for apps the Kindle doesn't have. (The Kindle is compatible with Android apps)

I'm attempting this post from the Fire - so if it looks really wonky you will know why. Once I get posting figured out, I still haven't solved the problem of pictures. My digital camera needs a USB port to hook to and the Fire doesn't have one. I might be able to email pictures from my phone, but those will not be good quality. Any brilliant suggestions welcome.

OK, two bits of news. We went to the Ann Arbor Folk Festival last night - over 5 hours of live music. Most of it really good from people I had never heard of. Glen Campbell played with his kids as his backup band. He has Alzheimer's and has to read his lyrics from a screen but can still play all his guitar solos perfectly. He played his old hits and sounded really good, but he was obviously not himself, needing lots of help from the people around him to stay on task. We were torn afterward. In a way it felt exploitative for his family to trot him out there, but he also looked really happy to be performing. Ethically prickly to be sure.

The craziest thing about last night is that we didn't get home until 3 AM! We haven't been out that late since I can't even remember. M was seriously shocked.

The other news is that I joined Pinterest today. Haven't had a ton of time to play on it, but very fun so far. I am Yodaknit, just like on Facebook. Follow me and I will follow you back!

Quickie

Just a quick post to show you three more cowls.  M stole claimed the first one I made, but these three go into the Christmas present pile.

 

 

I got a late start on my Dad's mandatory Christmas vest, but it is coming along.  There was such an uproar online about Rowan Calmer being discontinued that I ordered some to see what the fuss is about. It is nice to work with, but I'm not ready to join the OccupyRowan movement or anything.  I am doing some pretty cool Viking cables - maybe some pictures next time. 

 

Bam!

That's what I said when I wove up this awesome cowl in one day.

Isn't that the coolest thing?  Can't tell you who came up with this idea originally, but there have been several posted on the Ravelry rigid heddle group.  Last Sunday, I finally got around to trying it.  

Hard to explain how it works, especially if you don't weave.  If you are really curious, there is some explanation here.

It is not as tricky as it looks but clever enough to completely captivate me.  There are more of these in my future!

 

 

 

Cleaning is a Pain in the Back!

Spent most of today bringing order back to my crafting room.  It got away from me a few weeks ago and was close to being eligible for federal disaster funding.  I rearranged the closet, wound lots of leftovers into nice little balls, and removed an inch of dust from all surfaces.  Vacuuming requires I carry wheels, looms and chairs out in to the hallway, which is when I think I tweaked my back. I just took four ibuprofen, hopefully it will kick in so I can sleep tonight.  Oh well, worth it to be able to walk in my room without having to hurdle anything.  

Of course, every time I clean and organize, I run across all sorts of WIP's and also think of a thousand new things I want to start.  I did corral the WIP's in their own bin, each project secure in a separate ziploc bag. If I can see them more easily, I might be inclined to feel like finishing something.  

I do have a couple of FO's to show.  First of all, I finished M's sweater, the Dahlia that wasn't.  About the only recognizable feature from the original is the neckline.

I think it would have been cuter with the cabled body, but she seems to like it.  I did enjoy working with Ultra Alpaca and I love the tonal purple.  She wanted it to be long, so I finished the sleeves and then knit the bottom ribbing as long as the yarn held out.  She won't usually wear it over a sundress but I was sick of waiting for a photo shoot so I dragged her outside.

The second project is actually two related projects.  I knit a Turn A Square hat  in U of M colors for M's boyfriend and made her a matching pair of fingerless gloves with the leftovers.  This is all Cascade 220.

His birthday is Wednesday, so she can't wear the gloves until then.  (Not that he would suspect anything or even notice them, but it just seems more fair to me.)  She is very excited they will match.  I hope the poor soul isn't completely mortified and will wear the hat once or twice.  

Better picture of the gloves.  Thumbs free for texting!

Now I am working on birthday presents for two of M's friends.  One is a dead fish hat that I am knitting all in blue-gray so it will look like a whale and one is a pair of Prairie Boots.  I have never made the boots before but they are FUN! I whipped the first one up in two days and I'm already thinking I need a pair for myself.  I may try to finish the hat before boot #2 because it has been more of a slog and I just want to get it done.  Too easy to be interesting, I guess.  

So, pictures of these WIP's when I get them done.  I got new rollerblades today and I want to try them before it is dark.  I will post any relevant x-rays next time as well!

Boing!

That's the sound of me bouncing off on a tangent.

I worked pretty faithfully on M's sweater all weekend until yesterday afternoon when I mentioned needing to try it on her to find the correct place for the empire waist.  

M: "What empire waist?  I thought you were making me a plain boy's cardigan."

Me: "No, I'm making you that purple sweater I showed you with the empire waist and the cables around the bottom.  You said you liked it!"

M: "I don't know what you are talking about.  I said I wanted a big, cozy plain cardigan.  Nothing fancy."

Me: (stunned silence)

M: "Moooooom!"

We retired to the computer room where I once again showed her the Dahlia pattern.  She grudgingly admitted it looked familiar, but strenuously denied ever approving it.  When I pointed out that I had four good days of knitting on it, she conceded that I should just finish it. But...

...she requested it be a cardigan (easy enough - I'll steek it)

...she requested it have long sleeves (um, okay, I should have enough yarn)

...she requested I omit the picot neckline (yeah, yeah, I can make it plain)

...she requested demanded that I get rid of the cabled bottom and just knit it stockinette down to a ribbed hem (sigh)

So now I am just knitting plain old stockinette, round and round for miles, with no lovely cables to look forward to.  My enthusiasm for the project has plunged and it has been downgraded from want-to knitting to have-to knitting. 

I had to go and see a baby at the hospital this morning, but then I had the rest of the day off.  M's sweater got chucked to the side and I went on a craft room rummage for something fun.  I ended up dragging out my big inkle loom which has had an unfinished warp on it since March. Resolved to get it done, I turned on satellite radio and settled down on the couch.  A couple hours later, I was done!

I finished with 25" of the pick-up pattern and then I wove an 8" plain band to use up the rest of the warp.

The pick-up band is for a hat.  I haven't sewn it on yet, but you can see how it will look.

I sewed the little band into a cuff.

I wasn't sure how to finish the ends, so I tried some bias tape and then sewed on a couple of snaps.  I think I could make it neater with more practice, but it isn't bad.  I can imagine making more of these for Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews.

Back to work tomorrow.  I will take the boring sweater with me and try to motor onward.  The sooner I finish it, the sooner I can knit something fun!

 

 

 

 

Bus Trip!

Last Saturday a chartered bus left Yarn Cravin' at 6:30 am for the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, MI.  Bad Amy organized the whole thing and we owe her many thanks because we had a lot of fun!

It was about a three hour drive, which of course means three hours to chatter and knit.  I am not used to getting up at 5 on a Saturday (or ever!) so I must admit I also snoozed a little.  We made it to the fair before 10 and hit the ground shopping!

There were four or five big buildings packed full of vendors as well as a dozen outside booths, so I didn't make any purchases before I had made one circuit and had seen everything.  I didn't go to the festival with a real plan, just waited to see what would catch my eye.

I didn't buy any yarn, but I got some beautiful fiber.

This is 8oz of Romney wool and Mohair, colorway Autumn Leaves.  I bought it from White Creek Wool of Deford, MI.  It feels fabulous and I am excited to see how it will spin.  I also bought some undyed silk hankies to try to dye myself.

My big purchase came from Hillcreek Fiber Studio of Columbus, Missouri.  They make wooden looms for continuous strand weaving. Their looms range from 6" squares to 7' triangle looms.  They also make beautiful tripod stands to hold the looms.

I have been drooling over big triangle looms online for awhile, so being faced with them in person was sorely tempting.  I bet I made five visits to that booth before I finally made up my mind.  I could have easily put the unassembled 7' triangle loom in the cargo space under the bus, but I wasn't so sure I could get it into Kermit to take it home.  It also seemed like a lot of money to spend not knowing if I would even like continuous strand weaving.  In the end, I elected to get an 18" square loom instead.  It makes good sized squares you can seam into blankets, and it is small enough to be portable.  I also bought 2 skeins of Lanaloft, knowing I would not survive the three hour trip home without a chance to play with my new toy.

Turns out the weaving is easy and the potential plaid effects are pretty cool.  I wove diligently and had my first square done before we crossed into Ohio. (It's a little crumpled because I stuffed it into a bag.)

I have plenty of yarn for a second square, which I have already started.  I'm using the same plaid pattern, just reversing the colors.

Now I have a whole Lanaloft blanket planned.  I bought more solid/variegated combos at Yarn Cravin' on Tuesday night.

I think 9 squares will make a nice baby blanket and heaven knows there is no shortage of new babies right now.  My goal is to get square #2 done this weekend.  More is possible, but I am working this weekend and I have also started a cool new sweater for M, so I am trying to be realistic.

 

 

Back with a Swirl

My poor neglected blog has been weighing on my mind lately.  I wanted to get back to it, but I wanted to wait for something truly blog-worthy. The wait is over.

Have you seen this book?  I ordered it on-line as soon as I saw it and drooled over all of the beautiful photographs.  I knew I had to make one for myself.  

I wanted something self-striping but a little more economical than Noro Silk Garden.  Yarn Cravin' had Plymouth Kudo in a hot-pink/black/blue colorway that I thought was pretty.  I bought 8 balls (and then had to order one more online when I ran out!) and made a gauge swatch.

The author suggests you knit a pretty sizable swatch in the welt pattern and wash and block it before measuring.  I somehow missed that suggestion and just knit a basic stockinette swatch.  Then I went through the patterns and found that Tangerine Rose is knit to my gauge.   In the book, it is knit in a solid color and then ribbons are threaded through the eyelet holes.  I left out the ribbon and let the yarn do all the talking.

Sizing these sweaters is a little odd.  You choose one of three sizes based on one measurement of your back/chest. (hard to explain)  I am not a tiny person, so I was very surprised when my measurement suggested size 1.  I suspended my pre-conceived notions and went with it and my finished sweater fits fine.  (This may just be a happy accident since I didn't swatch correctly either.)

This sweater starts at the outer edge of the circle with 600+ stitches cast on.  She suggests working the first three rows flat and then joining to reduce the chance of twisting it.  I am very glad I did it that way.  It also helped to start with the longest circular at my disposal.  I never had to change to a shorter one.  The inner edge of the circle is still a lot of stitches and then you work the yoke/sleeves back and forth.

Do NOT think you are in the home stretch when you reach the yoke - it took forever to knit.  You are knitting the sleeves sideways, so the rows get very long.  None of it makes much sense while you are knitting, you have to follow the directions blindly and trust the designer.

She gives good directions for blocking in the book and it is worth it to take your time and do it right. Then there is a long seam to sew.  I pre-pinned the whole seam with safety pins so I could match everything up and keep it in place.  I used mattress stitch and some black Encore for the seam.  I had found the Kudo fragile and easy to break while I was knitting, so I didn't want to sew with it.  My yarn is busy enough that the black is invisible.

M took pictures of me today and was not in the mood for a conventional photo shoot.  She got very silly and most of the pictures are crazy and inappropriate for public viewing.  I picked the least crazy so you could at least see the sweater.

No idea what my arms are doing, but you can see that the sweater can be closed with a shawl pin.  You can also wear it open, but I can't provide photographic proof that doesn't involve a "Walk Like an Egyptian" pose.

The only photo of the back where I don't appear to summoning evil spirits or preparing to take flight.  If a sane person ever gets a photo of me in this sweater, I will be sure to let you see it.  Until then, I assure you that I am very happy with it and hope to wear it a lot when the cold weather returns.

 

 

 

 

 

The Definition of Madness

First, you start a baby blanket for a friend. Holding a strand of faux-mohair with a strand of variegated DK acrylic, you use size 11 needles and knit a garter stitch square on the bias.

Stand back and evaluate and decide you like the square, but it seems too plain to constitute an entire blanket. Resolve to knit on a border or edging. Spend over an hour picking up stitches around the entire edge. It takes two circulars to hold the approximately 500 stitches. After knitting a garter ridge for stability, work a row of K1B&F all the way around, taking your stitch total to 1000. Work 7 rows stockinette and then cast off your 1000 stitches.

Easy-peasy, right? Well, it wasn't fun, but I like the effect of the ruffled edge. I used my blocking wires and pins to square up the blanket and then straightened out the ruffle by hand.

I decided pinning out the ruffle was overkill. Even I have my limits! Now this just has to dry and I can gift it.

That will end this round of baby knitting. The second round will begin soon - two more pregnancy announcements at knit night! After careful analysis of possible contributing factors, we have concluded that you shouldn't sit in the sock yarn room to knit unless you want to be knocked up.

I finished the fuzzy blue sweater, but I don't like how it fits, so I am plotting how I might fix it. I would take a serger to it, but I don't own one. I don't want to leave it as is, because I know I'll never wear it.

I also knitted up a little handspun. This pattern is the DanDoh scarf designed by Yamiko Alexander.

It was crazy quick to knit, even after a frogged my first attempt at the halfway mark because I wanted it to be longer. My final version increased the cast-on stitches from 100 to 140. It turned out 27 inches long using my light worsted handspun and a size 7 needle.

Now I am working on a modified Central Park Hoodie out of Berroco Vintage and I unexpectedly started a crocheted blanket on Friday night.  I saw this pattern on Ravelry (a friend had favorited it) and it just sucked me in.  There is just something about the 3D texture that I love.  I am using some Encore I bought recently with vague plans to do a mitered cross blanket.  So far it looks sweeeeet!

Embracing the Inner Redneck

Not really a champagne wishes and caviar dreams day around here.  M and I spent 2+ hours at a laundromat, blasting through eight loads of her laundry. She is technically supposed to wash her own clothes, but she let them pile up to the point that it was either help her or set fire to my laundry room. Not a lot of fun to load all the clean clothes back into Kermit and then schlep them up to her room, but it is nice to have it done.  New rule is that she can't bring any dirty clothes into the laundry room unless she puts them right in to the washer.

We had a late lunch at a barbecue restaurant joint pit and tonight we will cap off the day with a Steve Miller Band/Greg Allman concert.  If only I had a Nascar t-shirt to wear.

This is my fifth post in seven days!!  I think I have made it through all of my FO's, so I will show you a couple of WIP's.

First, I am knitting Viola out of Knitpicks Suri Dream.  This will feel like wearing a kitten.  I like the fit so far.  I have to knit on the button bands and then go back and finish the sleeves.  Top-down and seamless!

The second project is baby blanket #2.  I am knitting this on 13's, holding two strands of yarn together - one a blue mohair and one a varigated acrylic.  Both from stash, which makes me happy.  I am knitting this like a classic bias garter dishcloth,  just bigger.

Notice the bare foot. Over 70 today and the sun is out.

Gotta go find my foam earplugs and get ready to rock!

ISO: Quiet Time!

Weird Friday. I'm off like always, but L and Hubby are also home for Good Friday. Fridays are usually a day for errands, but I also have some time for myself to read or weave or nap or whatever. Today, there will be no whatever.

L has friends over and they have been waging a contentious Easter egg hunt for over an hour now. Neither team wants to give any clues, but the last few eggs have eluded them and they are all getting chippy. I am really tired of the door slamming and the stampeding up and down the stairs and hope somebody gives up soon.

Hubby is also home and in the mood to clean. This is good because some housework gets done, but bad because I get dragged into it whether I like it or not. Even if I try to stay out of it, the endless "whose is this?" and "where does this go" wears me down. Before you know it, I am resentfully cleaning my closet or scrubbing appliances. Nothing makes me crankier than cleaning against my will.

Especially when what I really want is to sit and spin. I have another braid of Yarn Hollow fiber, this time with cashmere, but I haven't managed more than a half hour with it all week. The good news is that I took next Monday off and I'll be home alone. I am seriously considering a day when I never change out of my jammies.

Enough whining, here is another FO I haven't shown you yet. There is a serious baby boom happening in our Tuesday night knitting group. My latest baby gift is a blanket. It has been done for awhile, I just can't seem to get it to the recipient.

I didn't follow a pattern. The center is a two-color garter stitch block, and then I added solid garter borders. The final touch is a knit-on edging of garter lace.

Two colors of Plymouth Encore, three balls of each.  I've got one more blanket on the needles and then I think I get a break from baby knitting for awhile.