Ides of March

March 15 is a fateful day. You all remember Shakespeare's "et tu, Brute?" right? Well, March 15 was the day that I fell down in a big way with my 2009 fiber resolution. I don't think I've ever explicitly stated my resolution, which was "minimize fiber acquisitions." Actually, it went more like "see how long you can go without buying any new yarn or spinning fiber." For two and a half months I was doing really well! I was knitting from stash yarn (there is quite a lot of that, as you can probably guess) and had not brought any new fiber of any sort into the apartment. And then the DH and I went to New England to see family this past week. On our drive up the Maine coast we stopped by Purl Diva in Brunswick and I got into a bit of trouble. Ok, a lot of trouble. Four skeins of sock yarn and one skein of malabrigo laceweight. To be fair, three of the sock skeins were for gifts for other people (and more importantly, were gifts that could not have been made with stash yarn) and thus fell within one of the exceptions to my fiber resolution. So the single skein of sock yarn and the little bit of laceweight for me isn't too bad a fall, right? Unfortunately, my camera stayed in my bag during the entire trip so pictures of the new acquisitions will have to wait until I get back home and can pull the skeins out of the checked luggage.

Before I forget, Purl Diva is a gorgeous shop! Amazing yarn selection, great atmosphere, welcoming owner, you name it. I'll definitely be back on my next trip to Maine. (End of shameless plug, but really - great shop and you should definitely go if you are in the area.)

Just in case you thought I was going to ramble on without offering any distractions, here's a quick glimpse of my latest spinning project:



640 yards of approximately aran weight Corriedale/silk that I picked up at the Midwest Fiber & Folk festival last July.

Want more?



Even more?



Yes, I'm shameless and in love with my new yarn. I'm thinking of doing a top-down basic raglan with some sort of a cable running down the center front. A staghorn cable is at the top of my list right now but I'll pull out my Barbara Walker volumes and rummage around to see what else might look good.

I also officially finished Cluaranach a week or so ago. By "actually finished," I mean blocked and snipped the ends. I finished the knitting part of this project back in January but had been dragging my feet on the blocking. Even with blocking wires (and those are certainly a lifesaver), blocking is still quite a chore.





I'm thrilled with the result (although you probably can't see much in these pictures with either too much light or not enough). The yarn is a 70/30 merino/tencel blend that I spun up last spring. Now that it has been blocked, the yarn is absolutely stunning. Modeling shots soon.

To close out, I'll leave you with a pic of my newest pair of socks: Pomatomus. I had been planning to knit up a pair of Scottish Kilt Hose from Folk Socks with some Shibui sock yarn (color: peacock) and then ran into some major issues with color pooling. After frantically trying to save the kilt hose, I gave up and switched the yarn over to Pomatomus. I'm wearing the finished product right now and I'm happy to say that they looked very fetching going through airport security.

Christmas Knitting is Done!

No, you aren't imagining things. I just announced in February that my Christmas knitting is done. Unfortunately, this is last Christmas's knitting, not Christmas 2009. Is it better or worse that I started the project on December 29, 2008? Both the recipient and I are very happy that it is done.

Without further ado, here is what I have un-poetically titled Alpaca Raglan.



This is a pattern that I cobbled together using EZ's percentage system (that would be Elizabeth Zimmerman) with turned hems and a cable in the raglan. All in all, it was a pretty straightforward knit. The only unusual part came when I did the neckline.

Normally you wouldn't think of a crew neck shape as being anything difficult but I did have to stop and think a bit when it came time to do the shaping. Since I am not the biggest fan of picking up stitches along a neckline, no matter how nice the added structural support can be, I decided to use short-row shaping. The basic template that I use for a raglan calls for starting the neck decreases when there are 20 stitches left on the sleeves between the raglan seams. You just decrease 10 stitches on the neck side of the front raglan seams and eat up those stitches as the sleeve disappears into the seam.

The tough part comes when you have a cable splitting the raglan seam, especially where your round starts at the seam on the back side of the left-hand sleeve. If you start the new round at that marker, you'll work across the sleeve, across the 10 stitches that will be decreased away on the left front neck edge, and then turn. This means that you will have worked an extra row across two out of your four raglan cables.

I decided to go with (at least in my mind) the lesser of two evils: break the yarn at the round marker and re-join it at the neck edge. For the duration of the neck shaping, this would essentially move my beginning-of-the-round marker to the front of the sweater, allowing me to work the same number of rows on all the cables.



Speaking of cables, I'm kind of tickled by how the cable pattern worked out. I couldn't decide whether I liked the 6-stitch cable worked over a 4-row repeat or over 6 rows. Since I didn't want to try both and then frog the one that I didn't like (to be honest, it never occurred to me to swatch this one), I decided to alternate a 4-row cable with a 6-row one. I think the final product is delightful and just a touch quirky - perfect for the recipient.

Now I just have to give the sweater a bath and stick it in the mail.

What the WSJ has to do with knitting

Yesterday I was browsing the Wall Street Journal online and stumbled across an article discussing how the dollar has risen against certain European currencies, particularly the pound. The exchange rate for the pound was something like $1.35, quite a drop from the nearly $2 that I remember from previous months. My first thought upon reading this: now is the time to buy up Starmore kits.

Alice Starmore has been on my mind lately because I've been working on the DH's Christmas present. The table full of yarn that I briefly touched on here is a Virtual Yarns kit for Lismore (Ravelry link). The yarns are gorgeous and, aside from a knot in a couple of the skeins, everything that you would hope for in a nice wool. The kit comes with Ms. Starmore's Hebridean 3-ply, a luscious woolen-spun collection of heathers whose colors seem to glow from within. It is pricey but worth every bit.

Don't just take my word for it, look:





It's really too bad that I'm not buying yarn right now (one of my New Year's resolutions is to see how long I can go without buying new yarn. Another, related, resolution is to knit through my stash). I suppose I'll just have to keep watching the exchange rates and see if I should start convincing the DH to get me an early anniversary present (gifts of yarn are an exception to the resolution). Wish me luck.

Plugging away

Now that the holidays are over - no, wait, I still have one last gift to finish up (sorry, sis, your sweater is growing and should be done soon). Let me start over: now that the holidays are mostly over, my knitting seems to have slowed down a bit. This is not to say that I have not been knitting but rather that some of the frenzy has dissipated. I have actually been knitting quite a bit.

I finished a pair of socks.



Trust me, there are two. Unfortunately (for me, fortunately for him) my husband grabbed them, wore them, praised them, and threw them in the laundry before I had a chance to take a picture of the finished product. The yarn is Briar Rose Grandma's Blessing, a lovely cushy sport-weight superwash.

Actually, I finished another pair of socks recently. This one is Nancy Bush's Gentleman's Sock with Fluted Pattern (or something like that) from her book Knitting Vintage Socks. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy, color Black Parade.







As much as I liked wearing this pair for the modeling shoot, I exercised self restraint and shipped them off to my father. He called as soon as he got the package and asked for more; my favorite response when I gift hand knits.

I haven't confined myself to socks over the past few weeks. I have nearly finished Cluaranach (ravelry link) and started Frost Flowers and Leaves. The knitting is done on Cluaranach; the shawl just needs blocking.

Now, I have a last picture to whet your appetite for next time:



About a month ago, I got an air mail package and hid it in the back of a closet. When Christmas came around I wrapped it up and gave it to the DH. He opened it up, oohed and aahed, and gave it back to me. Let's just say that this gift could be described as "some assembly required."

Victoria

She's done!



Actually, Victoria (Ravelry link) has been been in varying stages of doneness for the past couple of weeks. I attached the last button on 12/20 or thereabouts but did not get around to blocking the piece until this past weekend.

All in all, this was a delightful pattern to knit - nothing too tricky and thus perfect to work on while reading.

As you can see from the picture, I made a few mods to the pattern. First, no picots. Not that they aren't lovely in the pattern photos and in the projects on Ravelry, but picots on a sweater were just a bit too girly for me. Instead I went with a basic turned hem. If you want to do this, just knit the turning row (it's a WS row) to create a ridge of purl bumps instead of the picots.



Second, I didn't work the full neck and went for a shorter version instead. After picking up the stitches for the collar, I worked 6 rows in the pattern stitch. Then I worked a turning section (again, with no picots) done with 3 rows before the turn as opposed to the 5 called for by the pattern. A 3 row turn seemed better proportioned than a 5-row one.



The third mod is a bit obscure but is one that I find infinitely helpful when it comes time to finish a sweater. Let me digress a moment and sincerely thank the designer for using short-rows in the shoulder shaping. This is something that I always substitute since, when combined with a three-needle bind-off, it makes a much cleaner shoulder than what you get with binding off so many stitches at the beginning or end of every alternate row. (For a nice article on how to convert traditional shoulder shaping to short-rows, look here.) So after seeing short-rows at the shoulder, I was a bit surprised not to see them in the neck shaping. Since all of the little details like this earlier in the pattern seemed carefully chosen, I tried the staircase-like bind-offs and just did not like my chances of picking up a nice clean edge for the collar (perhaps this was a result of the editing process rather than personal choice by the designer). Naturally, I ripped back and re-knit the neck shaping with short-rows. When I bound off it was so nice to see an unbroken curve at the neckline. The same principle in the short-row shoulders article works just as well at the neck.

Another kudos to the designer for making me pull out a crochet hook on this project, something I am usually loathe to do. Here the chain stitch detailing around the neck before picking up stitches for the collar was pure genius. Not only did the chain give a nice clean line, mirroring the bind-off line at the top of the pattern stitches at the bottom of the torso, but it also showed exactly where to pick up each new stitch for the collar. The extra structural support was wonderful as well.

Thinking back on the project, what I am most proud of is the button bands. The pattern says something like "make button loops and attach buttons." The prospect of making 15 little crochet chains and then sewing them on was enough to make me set the sweater aside for a week or so. 30 little ends to weave in! So I spent that week trying to think of a way around the problem. The designer's use of chain stitch at the neck served as inspiration. I decided to work a chain stitch up the button-hole side of the sweater and add little loops as I went. The way my math worked out, I needed a button loop every 7 stitches (one chain for each stitch on the turned band). I chained 7 stitches, each of which was attached to the button band, and then chained an additional 3 without attaching. I then attached the next chain stitch (number 11) to the 8th knit stitch and began my count to 7 all over again. Only 2 ends to weave in if you do it this way.

Attaching the buttons proved to be another challenge. For the record, I hate attaching buttons. Sewing them on with needle and threat drives me absolutely crazy. I had managed to sew on half the buttons when I decided to button the sides together and see how things looked. Apparently eyeballing it is not a good technique for button placement (yes, yes, I did know this but I didn't want to take the time to count stitches). A few expletives later, I cut all of the buttons out again. For take two, I decided to pull out my crochet hook instead of needle and thread. No need for any math this time: I knew that I needed one button every 7 stitches. First I wove in one end of my yarn to secure it at the bottom of the sweater. Then I strung all of my buttons (pearl buttons with shanks from M&J Trimming) on the yarn and began to chain. I worked 7 attached chains just like I did with the button loop side. Then I moved one button up the strand of yarn so that it was snug up against the last chain worked. Holding the button in place with my finger (more to keep it from flopping around and getting in the way than anything else), I worked another 7 attached chain stitches before placing the second button. You get the idea. I will have to remember this for the next time I use shank buttons since it was relatively quick and easy and looks spectacular (poor picture notwithstanding).



One last pic:



Until next time. . . 

The last couple gifts

As promised, here are the last couple knits that I actually finished in time for Christmas. First up is some handspun merino: 440 yards of fingering weight 3-ply (I navajo plied this one). My mother bought the fiber a couple years ago when we went to Maryland Sheep & Wool for the first time. We both were captivated by all of the lovely fiber available but less thrilled with the yarn selections. After holding out for about a barn and a half, we gave in and bought drop spindles and a bunch of fiber. The spinning bug bit me hard that spring. First, I learned why a drop spindle has it's name (probably putting permanent dents in the floor while I did so). After much swearing and frustration, I asked for a wheel for my birthday/graduation from college that year and haven't stopped spinning since. My first couple attempts at spinning were nothing to write home about but I was absolutely delighted that I had made yarn all by myself. Actually, it never ceases to amaze me when I take a project off the wheel - I just made yarn!

When you look at a picture of the first yarn I ever made




you'll see why I am so proud of my mother's present:



That's a 4.00mm knitting needle for scale.

My last present was a secret project for my husband. Given how suspicious I must have sounded whenever he came home, saying things like "stay right there, give me a minute before you come in any closer" and hiding the project under some papers in the bedroom, I am surprised that the gift was still a secret and delighted that it worked out that way.

About a month or so ago I spun up this lovely worsted-weight three-ply alpaca.



Since the yarn reminded me of tree bark in winter with its hints of silver and chocolate I looked around for a suitable stitch pattern that would evoke the same feelings. There were a couple of possible stitch patterns in my Barbara Walker books but with exams coming up I did not want to take the time to design a full pattern; plus, I needed something that I could knit while I studied. Finally, I settled on Anne Hanson's lacunae pattern and resized for my slightly larger gauge. Simple and elegant, it was just what I was looking for.



DH likes it too.

Still working on the Christmas knitting

Yes, I know that Christmas has already come and gone but I still have two last projects to finish up before my holiday knitting is complete: socks for my father and a sweater for my sister. Happily, one sock is done and the second one is well on its way. Sock number two is about an inch longer than this:



Pattern: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in color Black Parade

My sister's sweater is a basic bottom-up raglan with turned hems and a cable detail between the raglan decreases and is knit out of this lovely alpaca:



I made a similar sweater for myself a couple of years ago and I am basing the pattern (if you could even dignify my notes as a pattern - it's really just EZ's percentage system with some waist shaping) on that. My sister borrowed the sweater when we went to Rhinebeck this past fall and asked if I would make her one if she could find the yarn.

I have some interesting projects coming up (as well as some finished ones that just need a bit of blocking to be truly complete) that I am going to keep secret for a little while. Hopefully some pictures of what I actually finished for Christmas will distract you.

First, socks for my grandparents:





On the left is my grandmother's present: "Lady's'" Sock with Lozenge Pattern from the same Nancy Bush book knit in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, color: camouflage. I say "lady's" sock because I added a bit of calf shaping to the basic pattern and downsized for a smaller foot. On the right is Gentleman's Fancy Sock, same Nancy Bush book, knit in Dream in Color Smooshy, color: November Muse.

Some handspun socks for my father-in-law knit with yarn spun from Spunky Eclectic superwash corriedale, color: burning bush.



More socks - this time for the DH, knit with some Socks that Rock mill ends.



That's it for now. I'll share the rest of my Christmas knits tomorrow, including a secret project that I managed to pull off without my husband knowing about it (I'll always thrilled to be able to do that).