Knitasha von Stashenskeins

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.