Author Archives: pdxknitterati

At loose ends

Posted on November 6, 2008 | 7 comments

That’s how I feel, now that my Central Park Hoodie and the related Checkerboard Scarflet from the leftover yarn and buttons are done. I finished writing the pattern for the Checkerboard Scarflet, and Marie was kind enough to look it over for me. I’ve incorporated most of her suggestions, and the pattern is now available through Ravelry download/PayPal for $4.

I have another scarflet on the needles, the mindless log cabin blanket, and a secret holiday-related project, but no sweater. I’m antsy. Apparently I’ve become accustomed to bigger projects, and feel bereft without a sweater in progress.

What to do?

I think I’m going to have to make Hey, Teach. I even bought yarn for it. The pattern calls for four skeins of this yarn, and I hope it doesn’t need more, because this is all they had in this color at Yarn Garden. I usually have to shorten garments, so for once in my life, the fact that I’m not tall and willowy should work in my favor. At least the not tall part, anyway. 😉

The music behind the yarn is what I’m working at the piano. Which means not often lately! It’s from Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados. Granados has usurped Mozart’s place in my affections, at least temporarily.

What else is going on? I’ve been taking a harmony singing class at the local community college. Just for fun! The day after the class started, the local paper had a feature on the teacher, Anne Weiss. Sweet! It’s been a great class, but it’s only four sessions and next week is the last one. I’ve been using my Zoom H2 digital recorder to record the songs we sing, and it’s been great to have those recordings for practice. I’ve loaded them onto my iPod, and there’s always a song running through my head these days.

7 Comments

Posted in Knit, music, pattern design, piano, ravelry

Tagged anne weiss, checkerboard scarflet, granados, hey teach, Knit, Zoom H2

I think I see my hat…

Posted on November 4, 2008 | 4 comments

The Mason-Dixon gals have forwarded the Tiny Hats to Innocent. (Does that ever sound like secret code! “The Bird Flies High.”) Kay took a picture of the 342 hats before she sent them on. I think I see two of my hats:

That would be the green with white check and rather sorry looking pompom, and the white gull wing lace (of February Baby and February Lady fame) with topknot. The third hat is a generic strawberry, and there are several of those.

All in all, a cute fundraiser and fun project. I think the smoothies-with-hats go on sale tomorrow, November 5, at Sainsbury’s stores in the UK, to raise funds for Age Concern. They’ve received more than 500,000 hats. That’s a lot of hats, and a lot of $! Or pence, to be precise. 50 pence per hat given to charity, which is more than $250,000. (Don’t know how to make the British pound sign, but that’s worth even more than dollars, anyway.) If you want to see the Hat-o-Meter click the link; widgets of that sort don’t work with WordPress.

Happy election day in the USA! Go vote!

4 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, tiny hats

Checkerboard Scarflet

Posted on November 2, 2008 | 10 comments

I’m helping with a knitting party at Twisted in January. The party was a buy-in item at our high school booster club auction. Participants will receive yarn, Lantern Moon needles, and a lovely morning of tea and treats, as well as knitting instruction. I wanted to add a little more to the package, so I’m making stitch markers in school colors, and a pattern for a relatively simple project.

I had some leftover Louet Riverstone worsted from the Central Park Hoodie, as well as the almost perfect buttons. I needed a pattern that has some visual/textural interest, but wouldn’t be too hard for relative beginners. A lot of beginners start with an endless garter stitch scarf, but I know a lot of beginners lose interest in that endless scarf! So how about a shorter scarf? With buttons, because I have some that are perfect with this yarn?

And so the Checkerboard Scarflet was born. It’s pretty simple, just a knit/purl checkerboard pattern. Writing it was harder than knitting it!

It’s very cozy to wear. It will be great under my wool coat when it gets cooler.

It’s hard trying to take a picture of your own neck without seeing the viewfinder!

I thought about moving the buttonholes to the beginning of the project, rather than the end. But that made the beginning of the pattern more confusing for a beginning knitter. Also, I figured that if one were a relatively new knitter, the end of the scarflet would be better looking than the beginning, and the buttonhole end is the end that overlaps on top. We wants the pretty on the part that shows! So I’m leaving the buttonholes for the end. Isn’t it interesting what goes into deciding these things?

Pattern coming soon.

eta: Pattern information has been added here.

10 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Knit, scarflet

Lazy Saturday

Posted on November 1, 2008 | 9 comments

I woke up at 9 this morning; the Husband was leaving to work at an event. I rolled over and went back to sleep, and when I woke up again, it was noon! I haven’t slept that late in years. I must have needed it.

I asked the Teenager (also just waking) what he’d like for breakfast/lunch. Blueberry muffins! I still have a freezer full of blueberries from this summer’s bumper crop, so that was a definite possibility. Remember these?

Some of them ended up here.

They were just Bisquick muffins, with some applesauce added since there was a bit left in the fridge. They were delicious!

And so were the omelettes I made to go with them.

Teenager and I spent the afternoon on a CSI:NY marathon, courtesy of netflix. I knit all afternoon. Perfect on a rainy day. I’m almost finished with the project using the leftover hoodie yarn and rejected buttons. I’m hoping to post tomorrow; there’s no daylight left to take a picture tonight! I also put another log on the log cabin. This blanket will be done soon. It’s so nice to snuggle under while it’s in progress, but I’ll still snuggle under it when I’m knitting something else later!

Dinner tonight is leftover pork stew from last night. Perfect lazy Saturday.

Pork & Acorn Squash Stew

2 lbs pork loin, cut in to inch cubes
2 T olive oil
2 medium onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T cumin seed
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 cup white wine
1 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 acorn squash
1 1/2 T cornstarch

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Brown the pork and then transfer to a large oven safe dish. (I use a 4 liter covered casserole) Add a little more olive oil to the pan, and saute onion and garlic until translucent but firm. Add cumin and saute 30 seconds more. Add tomatoes, broth, wine, oregano, and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then add to the pork. Cover and bake in 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.

While pork is cooking, cut the acorn squash lengthwise and remove seeds. (I used my ancient cleaver for this. Thanks, Dad! I was afraid I would break the point on my chef’s knife if I used that.) Microwave on high for four minutes, cut side up. Let cool. Remove peel and cut squash into cubes.

When stew has baked for 45 minutes, add diced squash. Stir, and return to oven for another 20 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in water and stir into stew. Adjust seasonings. Serve over brown rice or whole wheat egg noodles.

Enjoy! We did.

9 Comments

Posted in Knit, recipe

Tagged Knit, muffins, recipe, stew

Central Park Hoodie!

Posted on October 29, 2008 | 23 comments

Sure has been quiet around here. I’ll bet you thought I fell off the earth.

Nah, I’ve just been busy. Excuse the wrinkly sleeves. I’ve been wearing this all day, because it feels good and I love it.

Central Park Hoodie, pattern by Heather Lodinsky, knit in Louet Riverstone worsted, six skeins on US size 6 and 8 needles. Started September 16, finished October 28. A fun knit!

Here’s the back. I made it a couple inches taller than the pattern specified, because I didn’t want it to flatten my hair. I continued the cable up the hood, because I liked it.

Somewhere along the way, I became a hooker. The Yarn Harlot wrote a post about stretchy necklines that aren’t bound off, just like this one. Of course I read the post after knitting the hood. She recommends crocheting a slip stitch crochet line across where the bind off should be, to stabilize the stretchiness of the fabric. As you can see, it left a little line on the outside, but no more than a bind off and pick up would have left.

Here’s what it looks like on the inside.

It took two trips to the Button Emporium to get this finished. Here are the buttons I chose first, but was swayed away by the beauty of another. When I started to sew the others on, I could see that they were too heavy, weight-wise, and would make the button band too droopy. So it was back to the Button Emporium to get the original pick. They were closed on Sunday and Monday, so it’s been a long wait to finish.

It’s hard to see the detail on the buttons; I had to underexpose the pictures because they’re so shiny!

Here’s the other button, actually a smaller version of it. I really love the way they look with this yarn, and I have a leftover skein that’s going to be something that needs them!

All in all, I love this sweater. I think I’m going to be wearing it a lot. The sleeves are a little long, so I’m wearing them turned them up at the cuff. In my chilly office I can uncuff them and they’re kind of like fingerless gloves, so they may get to stay that long. Or I may decide to cut them off and refinish them, and you know I can!

23 Comments

Posted in Knit, Uncategorized

Tagged central park hoodie, Knit

I can stop at any time…

Posted on October 22, 2008 | 10 comments

I just have to decide when! It’s about 36 inches square right now.

I started this Log Cabin blanket in July 2007. I don’t work on it very often; it’s a good mindless in-between projects project. But I always seem to have some other project going! And it’s getting kind of big for carrying around. I pulled it out a few weeks ago because Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne were coming to town, and I learned to log cabin from their book, Mason-Dixon Knitting.

I originally started it with yarn left over from a felted bag project, but I had to order more yarn as the blanket progressed. Then I used the new yarn to design more felted bags! Back to the drawing board. Symmetry brat that I am, I have to have an equal number of logs on each side.

Here’s what I chose for the rest of the blanket. Some of it was already in the stash; five are new but the colors have been used previously in the blanket.

It’s KnitPicks Wool of the Andes worsted, which is a great felting yarn. But I’m not going to felt this blanket!

10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, knitpicks, log cabin blanket, wool of the andes

The Boss

Posted on October 18, 2008 | 14 comments

That’s me. I am the boss of my knitting. I snipped a thread in the left front, between the armhole shaping and the neck shaping, ripped back 10 rows, and then grafted the two pieces back together.

If I look really hard, I can tell where I did it, just above the white line.

But I think it looks pretty good! This was definitely better than ripping out the whole hood and shoulder seam.

I’ve grafted sock toes before, so I had a basic understanding of how it works. The CPH pieces were like a very big sock toe, but with 8 purl stitches amid all the stockinette. It would make sense that the purl stitches would be worked in the reverse manner of the knit stitches. If you usually start by going in as if to knit, go in as if to purl, and vice versa. Finish each stitch by doing the opposite of what you did to start. Knit goes to purl; purl goes to knit. Mind-bender! Woolly Wormhead has an excellent tutorial on stockinette, reverse stockinette, and garter stitch grafting. From there it was a small leap of faith to a knit and purl combination.

It’s so logical. I’m pretty pleased with myself for figuring it out.

If you ever have to do this, don’t forget that you can only rip down; you can’t rip up into the knitting. Choose your cut accordingly.

Onward!

14 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged central park hoodie, grafting, kitchener stitch, Knit

This Old Hoodie: CPH edition

Posted on October 17, 2008 | 7 comments

I used to watch a lot of This Old House back in the early ’90s. Bob Vila and Norm Abram would hammer (hah!) home the notion that you should measure twice, cut once. Good advice. But I think for knitting, it’s measure twice, then seam.

I finished the pieces for the Central Park Hoodie last week, steam blocked the pieces, and used a three needle bind off to join the shoulders. Beautiful. I picked up the stitches for the hood, and knit away. I decided to keep the cable going up the back of the hood, although I don’t know that I’ll ever wear the hood. I don’t wear hats because they mess up my hair!

It looks really tall, and it is. I was supposed to knit for 11 inches before shaping the top, but I knit for 14 because I wanted the hood to be a bit loose and hangy, like my favorite sweatshirt hoodie.

I like the way the cables come together at the top of the hood. I opted to do a three needle bind off at the top, instead of seaming it together later as directed. I thought about grafting the two edges together so that there would be no seam, but I hate grafting, so no go.

Here’s the front, but wait. Something’s missing.

Yes, it’s the left front that you see on the side there. When I tried on the hood, something felt a little off. The left front armhole is one cable repeat longer than the right. I must have forgotten to turn the counter on the tens side somewhere in there. Carp! One repeat is 10 rows is almost 2 inches of too much fabric.

I thought about it for a while. Plan A: Ignore the whole thing, and ease the extra fabric in when I sew in the sleeve. But I would KNOW, and that would make me feel lopsided. That’s a lot of extra fabric. It would probably pooch out over my chest. One-sided poochiness would NOT be attractive.

Plan B: I could rip out the entire hood (a week’s worth of knitting; there’s a lot of fabric there), unseam the shoulders, rip down the front, and re-work from there. Heartbreaking.

Or Plan C: I could snip the front in the armhole, pick up the stitches above, and rip down 9 rows below, and then GRAFT the whole thing back together. Did I mention that I HATE GRAFTING? But I think it’s the least painful option, so I snipped, and that’s where I am, so far. At least the error wasn’t above the neck shaping; that would be an automatic Plan B.

I figure if it doesn’t look good when I graft it back together, I can always go back to plan B. Excuse me while I go cry in my coffee. And look for a good grafting tutorial on the trusty interwebs. My Vogue Knitting book was only slightly helpful. Nothing about grafting purls!

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged central park hoodie, Knit

Mason-Dixon Portland

Posted on October 14, 2008 | 7 comments

Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne, the authors of Mason-Dixon Knitting and Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, were in town last night for a reading and book signing at Powell’s. I had a work meeting. Poot! How could I be in two places at the same time? Not possible.

But how about *almost the same time*? I finished my meeting at 8:20; DH picked me up and drove downtown. I jumped out at Powell’s while he parked the car. I had missed the reading, missed the Q&A, but I made it for the tail end of the book signing. There were only four people left in line in front of me. But I made it!

Ann and Kay were gracious and charming, and I think I pretty much babbled at them because of the adrenaline rush of just getting there. I hope I made a tiny bit of sense. They signed my books, and posed for a picture with my endless log cabin blanket. I forgot to ask about the rubber stamps!

They brought samples from the new book. These are even more awesome in person, which is hard to believe because they look so good in the book. The back of Liberty (the blue and red scrollwork on this end of the table) was as beautiful as the front, and it was really soft, too. Alpaca! The Kiki Mariko (zigzag rug under Liberty)? Felted fun! SK8R was really cute, and the Rowan Denim feels great.

I didn’t quite get to see everything (it was pretty late), but I did get to try on Margaret. The drape and swing of the skirt are so, so cool.

It was worth the mad dash to get there. Many thanks to PNWBookGirl for keeping me updated on the evening’s progress via text message!

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, mason dixon knitting

Punkin-head

Posted on October 12, 2008 | 6 comments

I went to a first birthday party yesterday. It wasn’t a gifting party, but I wanted to make something to mark the occasion. My gift wasn’t quite ready at party time, but I finished it last night and delivered it this morning:

An October birthday requires a pumpkin hat! It was just a drop-off delivery, so I didn’t get to see him model it. It may be a bit short, but I can lengthen it, if need be. Sounds like it’s being worn beanie-style today.

I made it out of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece from my stash, US size 6 needles. It’s an improvisation, 80 stitches at 4.5 stitches per inch, knit 6 purl 2 ribbing. I think if I get it back to make it longer, I may change the decreases at the top; they’re all on the left side of the rib, and paired decreases might be a bit nicer. They just didn’t look right when I was alternating them, so I pulled them back and did it this way. It was a one-day knit! All done yesterday.

6 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, pumpkin hat