Monthly Archives: May 2009

Looking ahead

Posted on May 31, 2009 | 11 comments

Ishbel’s knitting should be finished in the next few days, so I’m looking ahead to a new project (besides all the socks that will be happening for Sock Summit).

At our recent knit nite, Leigh Radford was wearing her Ruffle Tank (Rav link). This was featured in Interweave Knits Spring 2003, and also in The Best of Interweave Knits. I was smitten with the simplicity and elegance of her design.

Although the yarn specified is all linen (Louet Euroflax sport weight), I opted for Louet MerLin Sport, a blend of 60% wet-spun linen, and 40% merino wool. It was mostly a color decision; I liked this blue better than the Euroflax colors at Twisted. But I’m also hoping that the wool will make the linen a little easier to work with, too.

The MerLin has 20 yards less per skein than the Euroflax; I’ll see how close I am at the end and decide if I need all four ruffles, or only three. I have the advantage of being short, so I’ll use less yarn in the length, too, and that may save me right there.

I seem to have done a lot of dreaming about this tank already, but I’m not letting myself cast on, or even swatch, until I’m done knitting Ishbel. I know how diverting a new project can be, and I don’t want Ishbel to languish!

11 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, Ruffle Tank, yarn

School supplies

Posted on May 29, 2009 | 9 comments

Remember how thrilling it was to get your school supplies each fall? The smell of new pencils and crayons…

Now imagine buying supplies for Sock Summit classes. Even better, right? Especially with a friend! Anna is taking two classes with me, so we went bead and yarn shopping this morning.

Here’s what I have:

Both yarns are Louet Gems sport weight. Yes, sport is as thin as I’ve knitted for socks. And I figure I’ll get further, faster with a fatter yarn!

The lilac yarn is for Star Athena’s Sock Design Workshop. The supply list said sock yarn, not too busy and not too dark. Perfect. Even more perfect is that this is the same color I’m using for Kai-Mei, and if I run out before I’m finished with the toe, I’ll just borrow a little of this. It may not be the same dye-lot (I haven’t checked), but it’s better than nothing! And it was very fun shopping for supplies at Twisted, because Star was there and now she’s met Anna, too.

The white yarn is for Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding. And the beads are for…yeah, you guessed it. I think that some plain white yarn is fine, because I want to see what’s going on with the beads! You may find it boring, but remember, it’s just practice! Perhaps a cute sock cuff, or fingerless mitts. By the way, Dava Bead in Portland is a place of great temptation. I buy a lot of my beading supplies there.

And for Cat Bordhi’s Dancing with Socks class? I’ll probably just play with some natural colored worsted that I use for teaching. Or go shopping again. I was much more restrained than Anna, so I may have to catch up…

9 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged Knit, sock summit, yarn

Sock Summit: I’m in!

Posted on May 26, 2009 | 21 comments

That was a wild romp with the Sock Summit server this morning! It kept timing out, but the clock was still ticking, and I'd go back in and see that whatever it was that I tried to add didn't make it, so I had to try again. I finished registration with 48 seconds to spare (they gave a 15 minute hold).

I’m sorry that it didn’t go as smoothly as planned, after all the hard work into the wee hours by Stephanie and Tina. (Stephanie’s updates on twitter were quite informative.) If you didn’t get in, try again; classes that were being held during those 15 minute hold periods go back to the queue if the registration doesn’t go through, and apparently there was also a server glitch that made things look full when they weren’t.

Here’s what I’m taking:

Dancing with Socks with Cat Bordhi
Sock Design Workshop: Know the Rules, Then Break Them with Star Athena
Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding (one hour wonder)

I’m looking forward to these classes, and to just checking out the market and hanging out with knitters!

And because I can’t run a post without a picture, here are the stitch markers I made to use in Cat Bordhi’s class. The picture is a re-run, but it’s a picture!

21 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged sock summit

Tourists at home

Posted on May 25, 2009 | 7 comments

The fun thing about having guests from out of town is that you can play tourist at home. My in-laws are here for the holiday weekend, and CollegeGuy is home for their visit. Fun!

Friday we had a late afternoon sail on the Columbia River. I bought this trip at the youth fundraiser auction in March, and what better time to use it than a gorgeous holiday weekend? The weather was perfect.

The Teen and CollegeGuy each had turns at the, uh, helm? What do I know from boats? It’s a 30 foot Catalina, and it was sweet. We had a leisurely trip east up the river past the Glenn Jackson Bridge, and then a more rambunctious trip back down the river, tacking with the wind. (Note the angle of the boat versus the horizon.)

It was an exhilarating afternoon. Thank you, Kirk, for a great time!

Saturday we headed up to Timberline Lodge. It’s a WPA project, completed in 1937. So grand!

At 6000 feet above sea level, there is skiing and snowboarding action, even in the summer. The kids (!) felt compelled to get into the snow, too. Check out The Teen’s rolling flip.

There’s a great view of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters to the south. This is from the Raven’s Nest on the third floor.

I love the way the snow is higher than the windows…on the second floor.

Did you know that “The Shining” was filmed here? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

Not much knitting going on this weekend, but I’m through the first 8 rows of lace on Ishbel. I can see the pattern, and I like it.

7 Comments

Posted in travel

Tagged timberline lodge

Ishbel exorcism

Posted on May 22, 2009 | 19 comments

Mmmmmm. Malabrigo! I bought this purple Malabrigo Sock yarn, color is Violeta Africana. I really wanted blue, but Twisted didn’t have any, and I needed to cast something on in a hurry. My knitting mojo was at stake.

Looks like this will work just fine. It’s the color of grape soda. The camera can’t quite catch the fizzy goodness; it’s not as blue as you’d think from the picture. But I’m knitting, and I’m happy. One of the problems of not having many projects on the needles is that when one project stops, there aren’t many alternatives. I’m still looking for a good mindless knit project. Right now, Ishbel can be it, until it gets to the lace.

I’m hoping that my next project doesn’t require a yarn change, because I’ve just had two in a row. Ouch.

In other knit news, Sock Summit registration opens on Tuesday at 10 a.m. I still haven’t decided what I want to take, but now the pressure is on!

And in non-knitting news, the Adult Beginner Forum’s quarterly recital went live on the 15th. I haven’t been playing much, but I had this worked up in March before I fell off the piano wagon, and it came back pretty quickly. It’s another waltz from Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados. This is vals no. 6, also called Vals Sentimental. I love how melancholy and sentimental this is. I envision a woman looking at faded photographs of her long ago love. She goes into quite a reverie in the second half of this piece. But it’s so over, baby…just like I’m over that silk Ishbel.

19 Comments

Posted in Knit, music, piano

Tagged ishbel, Knit, piano

Where’s Ishbel?

Posted on May 20, 2009 | 11 comments

Where’s Ishbel? Oh, um, she’s sleeping.

With the fishes.

True confession time: I don’t like working with this beautiful yarn. It’s too skinny for me, and not as slick as I wanted it to be. You know how a silk garment is either really smooth, or has a “dry” texture? This one’s dry.

I ran across a mistake last night, and tried to figure out how to fix it (lost a stitch somehow). Was getting nowhere, so I tinked two rows. Slowly. Not well. So I decided to frog down to the beginning of the lace (8 rows). Only to find that THIS YARN DOESN’T FROG WELL. Not slick. But slick enough that it doesn’t want to go back on the needles without dropping stitches. Getting it back on the needles is not gonna happen.

And as I said a few posts ago, life is too short to knit with yarn I don’t love.

I think I’d love this pattern with a different yarn, though. Fingering weight. Yeah, that’s the ticket. And look at Emilee’s gorgeous Ishbel, made with one skein of Malabrigo Sock! Great stitch definition, size 6 needle (I peeked at her Ravelry project page). I was using a 6 with the laceweight, and it’s just like playing with cobwebs. I think I need to go shopping…

11 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged frog, Knit

Baby Bolero, fini

Posted on May 18, 2009 | 18 comments

Once I had a yarn I liked, this project just danced off the needles!

All washed, blocked, and ready to pop into the mail.

Baby Bolero from One Skein by Leigh Radford
2 Balls Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton
Size 8 needles, plus a Size 9 circular for the ribbing

Mods: I changed the eyelets on the left side of the motif from k2tog to ssk to emphasize the holes, and I picked up the sleeves at the armholes and knit circularly down to the cuffs to avoid seams. Also, I couldn’t pick up the specified number of stitches for the ribbing trim; I picked up what felt like a reasonable number (a lot, but less than specified). It just needs to be a multiple of 4. I would happily make this sweater again; it’s quick and cute. When I knit it again, I may decrease the sleeves down more so that they’re narrower at the cuff; these are cute, but wide.

A few more FO’s: These are thank you gifts for some of the Day Old Pastries, my singing/guitar/mandolin buds, who helped with music at our women’s retreat a couple weekends ago. Feels like a long time ago, but it’s been busy around here!

Here’s a close-up of the edge. I like it because it’s narrower and lacier than the two stitch edge you usually see.

I’m pairing these with some nice soaps, and away they go.

18 Comments

Posted in Day Old Pastries, Knit

Tagged baby knit, Knit, washcloths

Piled higher and deeper…

Posted on May 16, 2009 | 11 comments

I woke up this morning, and realized that I hadn’t done my homework. Sounds like a bad high school nightmare, doesn’t it? But high school was long ago, and my homework was very manageable at breakfast.

Three swatches for Knitting Tips and Tricks with Lily Chin at the TKGA Show. I’ve always wanted to take a class with Lily, and the last time I tried, the class was sold out before I could register. This time it worked out, and I’m glad it did. She’s an excellent teacher, and I now have a bunch of new techniques, including a new cast on, a new bind off, and a better buttonhole. And the answer to “what happens when you run out of yarn in your long tail cast on?”

Thanks, Lily!

Friday I had a load of fine hemlock bark mulch delivered. I’ve never done this before, so I wasn’t sure how much to get. The expensive part is the delivery, so I ordered 3 cubic yards instead of 2 since it didn’t cost that much more. Looks manageable, right?

Maybe it depends on how you look at it. (I’ve already taken off about a foot from the outside, because it was getting run over by cars.)

I weeded the front and side beds yesterday, and we spread some of it this evening. There’s still about half the pile out there; I may have over-bought. But we haven’t done the left side of the flowerbed yet. I’ll put it all…somewhere. Just deeper!

11 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, mulch, tkga

Life is too short…

Posted on May 12, 2009 | 12 comments

to knit with yarn that you don’t like.

The last time I touched this Baby Bolero was when I took this photograph.

The thought of knitting more with this yarn just didn’t excite me. It was hard on my hands, and hard to control the gauge because the yarn doesn’t slip along itself. Look at the wonky stitches on the sleeve. So I bought new yarn.

I started this on the weekend, and it’s flying along. The yarn, Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton, is a joy to work with. It’s soft and “buttery.” I love it! I still have a slight issue with a column of loose stitches between dpns (hey, it’s cotton, and not resilient and forgiving like wool), but I’m dealing with that by moving the gaps every round. I just knit a couple stitches more or fewer on each needle. The stitch definition is great.

Here’s the same motif in the Mission Falls 1824 Cotton. You can see the structure of the yarn is different.

The 1824 is a cotton center with a thin thread wrapped around it. The Pure Cotton is two plies of equal size, twisted around each other. It’s a lot softer than the 1824. I think I’ll swatch for Angela Hahn’s Sorelle with the Pure Cotton; I’ve been wanting to knit that but haven’t found the right yarn for it. Do I need a blend? Angela used a cotton blend, and also recommended some wool/silk blends. What do you think?