Author Archives: pdxknitterati

Same song, second verse

Posted on January 22, 2009 | 19 comments

A little bit faster and a little bit worse? Nah. Faster, maybe, but I think it’s going to be better!

The first Leyburn is done.

I really like the way this fits my foot. After all that fussing with the heel, it’s perfect!

The sock is 54 stitches, the heel is done on 31 stitches, or about 60%. I short rowed until there were 11 stitches in the middle, and 10 left unworked on either side. 9 in the middle was too far, resulting in the little balloon on my heel last time. (No pictures of that goofiness.) The leg at the ankle is slightly loose; I was trying very hard to stretch my floats on the leg as directed, but I don’t think I needed to. If I just knit in my regular way, it will be perfect. Why am I telling you all this? So that I’ve written it down, and can reproduce it in the second sock!

Here’s the toe.

I know how to kitchener stitch, but it’s not my favorite thing. I decreased at each side every other round until I had 30 stitches, and then decreased every round until there were 10 stitches total. Snip and run the yarn through the stitches, weave, and done! Hey, this method has been sanctioned in the current issue of Knitty (by the technical editor for socks, no less), so I’m good with it.

I started the second sock this morning. I love how this little twisted border takes the plain stockinette (left needle) and turns it into something magical (right needle).

Please excuse me, I have to go knit now!

19 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, leyburn kal, leyburn sock, short row heel

Taming of the short row

Posted on January 19, 2009 | 22 comments

I knit my first short row heel.

What I didn’t know ahead of time was how shallow a short row heel on 50% of the leg stitches would be. This made the leg of my sock a lot shorter than I intended, and the heel didn’t fit all that well, either.

What I did like was how tidy looking the heel was. I used this tutorial to do the short rows without wrapping and turning, and I really liked it. Here’s the knit side.

And here’s the purl side.

No gaps. The sock was too short, though, and I didn’t like the fit of the heel, so I ripped it out, and did the same style of heel on 60% of the stitches instead. That felt a lot better, except I short rowed too far, making the heel cup too long, and the heel ended up with a little balloon of fabric on the end. I tried to ignore this, thinking that it would be fine when the foot was done and pulling on it, but alas, it was untrue. I was all the way to the toe shaping when I finally faced this fact. Now I’m here, again.

But as is so often true with my knitting, I’m hoping that the third time’s a charm.

I did decide to put the beginning of the round at the back of the leg, where I wouldn’t have to see that I goofed the stitch pattern a bit. If you don’t see it, I’m not telling you where it is. If you do see it, it will be our little secret. Shhhhh!

In other news, Mookie has adopted the log cabin blanket. She really likes it.

And I figured out how to turn off the infra-red auto-focus assistant, which means she doesn’t have devil eyes in this picture. Yay, me!

For those of you who are local in PDX, and on Twitter, here’s a Twitter contest with some interesting prizes. The contest is on Friday, January 23. Some of the prizes are already listed on the blog, and the rest will be listed this week. Good luck!

22 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged Knit, leyburn sock, short row heel

Leyburn KAL

Posted on January 16, 2009 | 17 comments

I’m in! I just joined the Socks That Rock Leyburn Knitalong on Ravelry. I’m doing it with Socks That Rock Mediumweight in Eggplanted, top-down, 56 stitches cast on for the ribbing, decreased to 54 for the Leyburn stitch pattern. Here’s what I have so far.

I really wanted to try this cuff treatment that I saw on the Twist Collective Blog. Theirs is in a contrast color to corrugated ribbing, but even so, it’s so cool looking! It gave me a little giggle to deliberately put a twist in, after years of admonishments to “be careful not to twist” for circular knitting. Be aware that you have to work this part on straight needles; ask me how I know…

I switched to knitting in the round as soon as the cuff detail was done, just before the ribbing.

And I think I may try a short row heel, since I’ve never done them before. It’s always fun to learn a new trick. We’ll see when I get there. For now, I’m just enjoying the stitch pattern.

Knit on!

17 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged Knit, leyburn kal, leyburn sock, ravelry

Answering the question

Posted on January 15, 2009 | 11 comments

I’ve been wondering: If I knit Athena one block narrower, would I be able to do it with one ball of Taos? The answer is…

Almost. But No. I made it all the way through the triangle blocks, but didn’t have enough to bind off. So now I know. This Athena is quite cozy at 20 inches around, yet still roomy enough, but since I have to buy the second ball of Taos anyway, why not make it more squooshy? So my next one will be at the size specified in the pattern. Wait, did I say next? Yes. It turns out this Athena isn’t for me after all. The colors are perfect for my friend D. And she’s having an Important Birthday. So off it goes.

Please note the lovely daylight, outside, no rain. A respite!

But I can’t knit another Athena right now. I promised myself that when I finished, I’d cast on for the Leyburn KAL on Ravelry. And so I shall. Tonight.

11 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged Athena, cowl, entrelac, Knit, neck warmer

Knitting around in circles

Posted on January 11, 2009 | 14 comments

Pippi 3 is off the needles.

It looks just like Pippi the first, right?

Almost! The Cashmerino Aran colors are really rich and and seem to glow. I wouldn’t call it Aran weight, though. It’s a very nice worsted. Note the slightly shorter earflaps. And now that I’m looking at the picture, I see that I used double crochet instead of half double crochet on the edging! Oops. I’m not a crocheter, really, and I mis-remembered how to do it. I like the way it looks, though. I love this pattern, but after three hats, I’m definitely ready to move on.

What next? I started my Athena for me.

Lest you think that I am in a rut (three of the same thing, and three of the same thing?), I have another thing in the queue after Athena:

My friend Susan gave me these Lantern Moon Sox Stix for Christmas. Size 2! I guess that means I need to knit some somewhat skinny yarn socks. I bought some Socks That Rock Mediumweight (still not ready for the really skinny stuff); this color is “Eggplanted.” There’s a KAL on Ravelry for the Leyburn Socks, so I’ll start with that idea and see if it flies.

14 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, ravelry

Tagged cowl, earflap hat, entrelac, Knit, leyburn kal, neckwarmer, socks

An evening with BrooklynTweed

Posted on January 9, 2009 | 15 comments

Jared Flood (BrooklynTweed) is in town. He’s teaching classes at Knit/Purl this weekend. The classes filled very quickly, so they added a lecture/slide show. Beautiful photography! But I knew that already from his blog. Jared spoke about his inspiration, photography, designs, new designs. He gave some hints on photographing knits, and had a generously lengthy Q&A time after the slide show. There were a few sneak peeks of things that are coming soon, such as an amazing pair of Aran gloves that will be in the next VK. These are stunning, so texturally complex, I really want to make them. And I’ve never knit gloves! He’s also working on a book for Classic Elite due out this fall. Based on just a few pictures, this book is going on my wish list.

I did have to take a picture with my current project, just to show that I was there. But no flash (didn’t want to startle), so it’s not a great picture. More like a kinnearing, but it wasn’t my cell phone!

Yes, the project is one more Pippi. I’m knitting a sample for Twisted; they’re carrying paper copies of the pattern. This time I’m using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, and it’s really soft. The yarn has a bit of a shine to it, too. Really lovely stuff.

The other thing that I’m really enjoying is my new Lantern Moon ebony 16 inch circulars. I love how smooth they are. These have fairly short needle tips; they are shorter than the tips on my bamboo circulars. I’ve come to find that this helps them fit well in my hand, and the cable curves nicely under the palm. They’re not too short at all. And I love the way they sound. Bliss! I’m almost done with Pippi, and then I can use these needles to finally knit Athena for myself. I’m looking forward to it!

15 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit

Pippi pattern published

Posted on January 7, 2009 | 14 comments

How’s that for alliteration?

I finished the second Pippi hat, and took notes this time! I played around with earflap length and placement, and added a larger size. I just finished editing the pattern; it is available as a Ravelry download. See pattern page for details.

Good night!

14 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, ravelry

Tagged earflap hat, Knit

Log cabin blanket and friends

Posted on January 3, 2009 | 27 comments

I finished my log cabin blanket last night.

This blanket began with leftover yarn from four entrelac felted bags (pattern and yarn from knitpicks.com). After a while I ran out of leftover yarn, and had to buy more to keep the blanket going. Then I got sidetracked when I designed and made three felted slip stitch totes last spring using the yarn I bought for the blanket.

That meant I had to buy more yarn, again. As I got close to finishing the blanket, I used leftover yarn from the blanket to make socks, and Pippi. I had to dip into the blanket’s last ball of hollyberry (red) to finish Pippi. And when I finished binding off the last log on the blanket in hollyberry, I only had one yard left. That was close!

The details:

Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner & Ann Shayne
KnitPicks Wool of the Andes worsted (a great inexpensive workhorse of a yarn)
Lantern Moon US size 7 ebony circular needles (last one was 40 inches long)
Finished size: I knit until there were 10 stripes of color on each side of the center rectangle. It came out to be 44″ x 46″
Started: July 2007
Finished: Jan. 2, 2009

I didn’t put on an edging. I’m leaving open the possibility of making it bigger, somewhere down the road. For now, it’s a nice snuggly hanging out on the sofa afghan.

I love how this turned out. The colors make me really happy!

27 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, knitpicks, log cabin blanket, mason dixon knitting

New Year’s Day

Posted on January 2, 2009 | 13 comments

I spent part of New Year’s Day working on my log cabin blanket; I’m on the last planned color strip. I’m ready for this project to be done. I’ve enjoyed working on it, and it’s been cozy to sit under while knitting it. I know I’m not the only one who thinks so!

We had a little surprise snow last night/this morning. It was 1 a.m. I took a picture because it was so magical, and I was afraid that it would all be gone when I woke up.

Guess I didn’t need to worry. I’m glad we still have seed for the birds. (Can you identify this bird? I don’t know what it is, but it’s a regular visitor at the feeder. It’s kind of chubby and cute.)

I found this lone hydrangea bloom this morning.

I’m working on Pippi 2 today; the colors are very different from the first hat but I really like them, too! I’m writing the pattern this time. Still working from the stash. I’m using Plymouth Galway in navy and white, and the green and medium blue are KnitPicks Wool of the Andes.

Knit on!

13 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Knit, log cabin blanket

Happy New Year!

Posted on December 31, 2008 | 14 comments

Here’s my last FO for 2008.

It’s the Head Hugger beanie from Ann Norling. I made it last night. I’m teaching a class at Twisted in February and again in April, Intro to Circular Knitting/Basic Hat. I needed a shop model/teaser for the class. This is a good basic hat pattern that a relative newbie can master, and then customize as they wish. Should be fun!

I was going to make a mosaic of all my 2008 FO’s, but organizing all the pictures was daunting. There are about 30, and I’m out of time. So instead, here are things that I’ve designed/written during 2008.

They are, from left to right, top to bottom: entrelac socks, felted slip stitch tote, log cabin baby blanket, zigzag lace pedi socks, stitch markers, checkerboard scarflet, Athena entrelac neck warmer, Pippi (pattern coming soon), and the square for the Afghans for Afghans afghan. Someday we’ll finish all those squares!

I started this blog in March, and it’s been way more fun than I anticipated. I started selling patterns on Ravelry and at Twisted this year, too, and that’s been a good experience. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Happy new year and happy knitting!

14 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit, pattern design, ravelry