Category Archives: Knit

ask the designer

Posted on August 15, 2010 | 9 comments

I’m making steady progress on the ruffle tank. It’s seamed and just needs the i-cord edgings at the neckline and armholes. Here’s the back. I opted to omit the keyhole closing at the neckline.

This is my first experience with applied i-cord. The instructions in the pattern are for a 2 stitch i-cord, applied from the wrong side. I remembered seeing other general instructions in which i-cord was applied from the right side. I had the opportunity to ask Leigh Radford, the designer, why she chose to work from the wrong side, and her answer was simple: She liked the way it looked.

I decided to try it both ways.

The little bit on the left is applied from the right side. The top 3 stitches were picked up under the far edge. I didn’t like the way it left a ridge on the right side, so I switched to the closer part of the edge on the following stitches. I like the way it looks really tubular. But it looks a little heavy for the edge.

The bit on the right is applied from the wrong side. It doesn’t look as tubular or as finished, but I like it. It’s delicate and a little rustic looking. So I’ll carry on from the wrong side, knowing that Leigh likes it that way. Especially since I feel a little guilty for omitting her keyhole neckline!

In other news, my new iPhone4 is here, and I love it. It’s very intuitive. I took the ruffle tank pictures with its camera this morning because I was too lazy to go downstairs to get my other camera. Not bad, and the macro worked great. Here’s a screen shot of where the phone’s google maps app located me this evening.

It was correct, but I wonder what it would have done if I asked it for driving directions…

By the way, I’m having a little giveaway on the Lantern Moon blog. Go check it out!

9 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit, pattern design

Tagged contest, iPhone, Knit, leigh radford, Ruffle Tank

August’s single skein…

Posted on August 10, 2010 | 6 comments

I didn’t even open the Single Skein Club package while I was camping; the allure of the ruffle was strong. But I have now opened it so I can show you, gentle reader.

It’s an ingenious lacy scarflet by Sivia Harding. The yarn is Mirasol Tupa which is 50/50 merino and silk, in a deep auburn. It looks almost like chocolate. I love this yarn; I used it for my Hugs and Kisses Cabled Fingerless Mitts. It’s great to knit with.

The bonus this month:

A little scrabble tile Twisted yarn ball pendant.

Sweet! This may be my next project after the ruffle tank is off the needles. We’ll have to see which way my whims turn.

In other news, WordPress changed my theme to Coraline from Cutline, which is being phased out. If you came by and there was nothing on the sidebar, my apologies! Widgets have now been restored. Thanks for visiting!

6 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit

Tagged mirasol tupa, single skein club, sivia harding

back from crafting, I mean camping…

Posted on August 7, 2010 | 10 comments

I’m home, skeeter-bit, itchy, and happy. We were at Swift Forest Camp on the Lewis River in Washington. It was marvelous to look up and see this by day…

…and a million stars by night. Being away from city lights really changes the night sky. It’s too early for the Perseid meteor showers, but we saw several meteors streak across the sky each night, including a very bright one tracing the Milky Way. Gorgeous!

I brought my knitting, and I was completely engrossed in my ruffle tank. I ripped both front and back down to the neck shaping so I could adjust the depth of the neckline. I had a “duh!” epiphany: I needed to figure how far *down* from the shoulders I wanted the neckline before I could figure how far *up* to start it from the armhole shaping, since I was changing the depth of the armhole, too. That sounds like gibberish, but it makes perfect sense. I wish I’d thought that through the first time. I also decided to forego the keyhole neckline on the back, and give it the same shaping as the front. I finished front and back, and started adding the ruffles.

I love how this is turning out; the ruffles are fun to make and charming to look at.

I shopped for these beads for an ankle bracelet last month and hadn’t gotten around to making it. Carole designed and put this together for me since I was otherwise obsessed.

We had some bead stash sharing and swapping.

It’s a multi-family camp out, which makes it all the more fun. The teens woke up on Thursday and decided to try to make a sailboat with the inflatable raft. It’s amazing what they can do with sticks, duct tape, rope, and the rainfly from a tent.

And it worked! Mast, sail, working boom, and a paddle as a rudder.

We had a great time, even without our electronic toys. There was no cell service in the area, and sometimes it’s nice to be untethered. But I’m looking forward to my new iPhone4 on Tuesday!

10 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit, travel

Tagged camping, Ruffle Tank, sailboat, sailing

just breezing through…

Posted on August 4, 2010 | 11 comments

I finished my blue Breezy Market Tote this weekend.

Just in time! The next installment of Twisted’s Single Skein Club is out.

But I’ll have to show you what’s in it next time; I don’t have pictures yet. I’m tossing this into my bag, along with the new guitar strings, and going camping tomorrow. See you in a few days!

11 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged breezy market tote, single skein club

knitting a blue streak

Posted on July 27, 2010 | 14 comments

It feels like it’s all blue here, all the time.

I started my Breezy Market Tote. Although Twisted’s Single Skein Club offering with my design was AllHemp6 yarn in pumpkin, I was able to swap my yarn for deep sea (blue), since I’d already made the original design in sand (nearly pumpkin). I wound the yarn by hand, twice. The first time, I wound it in my usual way, over my fingers to keep the ball loose to avoid stretching the yarn. It works with wool. With hemp? Not so much. The ball was sloppy and prone to tangling and falling apart. So I rewound it more tightly, and away we went. And yes, that’s a provisional cast on at the bottom. Never fear, the bag will be only…blue.

I also resurrected my ruffle tank from the time-out basket. I lost my annotated instructions last year at Sock Summit time, and was just too peeved to go on. But looking at it now, I’m pretty sure I can get the rest of it done. The back was already done, and the front was up past the armhole shaping. It won’t take long (famous last words) to finish. And I get to learn applied i-cord to finish the edges.

I’ve been working on the instructions for my Pacific Shawl (yes, mine is blue); it’s almost ready to go to test knit. I need to make a video tutorial for placing the beads, and check the math one more time, but the charts are done.

Last night I made blueberry lime jam. (More blue, even though the jam is deep purple.) I don’t like plain blueberry jam, where the berries have been through the food processor. The texture is…grainy. So I gently squashed the berries with a potato masher, and I think I’ll like the result a lot better. Along with lime juice, there are bits of lime zest in there to give it some zing and keep it from being cloyingly sweet. Because these berries are really, really sweet already. There are still more out there on the bushes, too…

Oh, I did finish something that wasn’t blue…a helmet liner for the Knit for the Troops project. Lichen green, and I forgot to take a picture before dropping it off at Twisted! Sorry. I used the pattern here. If I were to do it again, I would change the decreases at the crown; there are only 5 decreases around the crown of the hat, and it meant that the top of the hat was tall and a bit pointy. I’d make more decrease points (maybe 8?) so the crown would be shorter and rounder. (If 8 decreases, then I’d start with 88 stitches instead of 90) But that’s just me; I can’t seem to ever knit something as written!

Back to the blues…

14 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, recipe

Tagged blueberry jam, breezy market tote, Knit, knit tote, Ruffle Tank

knit friends, Passiflora, blueberries

Posted on July 24, 2010 | 15 comments

Samantha Roshak was at Twisted to kick off her trunk show yesterday. She brought some lovely knitted things.

Sam’s a designer from Seattle; I met her last year at Sock Summit. She’s charming *and* talented! Her show will be at Twisted through this weekend. If you can’t make it, you can check out her designs online.

Her friend Chandria came with her. I met Chandria when she came down on the SEA-PDX Yarn train in January. It was nice to meet up again.

Passiflora is done!

I love the lacy detail up the side, as well as the expanded lace on the back.

It’s reversible, and I did try it on with the lacier front, but I like the small panel better in front. The pattern was well-written and simple to follow. I didn’t change anything except to make it shorter throughout, because…I’m not as tall as I imagine!

The weather has turned hot, so it’s a little too warm to wear right now. Yes, it’s sleeveless, and has lots of lacy built in ventilation, but the yarn is wool, silk, and bamboo, and it’s a little warmer than I’d like on a 90 degree day. Last week, it would have been perfect. Don’t worry, it will be cooler again. It’s Portland!

The sunshine is encouraging my blueberries; we still have loads on the bushes. I keep picking, and baking, and freezing. A friend called to ask for a clarification on my blueberry cobbler recipe, so I’ve edited the recipe to make things clearer.

That’s the news from here. Next on the knitting agenda: finishing a pattern, and finishing last year’s abandoned project. Both are blue. ‘Tis the season!

15 Comments

Posted in Knit, recipe

Tagged blueberry, knitquest, passiflora, sam roshak

Take me out to the ballgame

Posted on July 22, 2010 | 11 comments

It was Stitch ‘n’ Pitch night at the Portland Beavers game last night. My god-daughter E was in town; she’s a knitter and a baseball fan.

We had a great time! Remember these?

I decided there was no better time to knit with candy, than in the company of an eight year old. I used size 8 aluminum needles (washed)…this sticky project was not happening on my Lantern Moon ebony needles!

E thought the concept of knitting with candy was a little strange.

But then she wanted to try it, too.

You know what happened next…

While the candy smelled great, it was a bit too chewy and didn’t taste as good as it smelled. It was worth a try, though! I think the laces were too thick for the size 8 needles (was this a gauge swatch?). It would be better in a less dense knit. I tried knitting 3 stitch i-cord, but the laces kept breaking. In the end, a simple crocheted chain bracelet was our best result.

The Stitch ‘n’ Pitch organizers collected caps for cancer patients; you can see some of them on the table. They also had a drawing for prizes during the 7th inning stretch.

I won a sewing pattern, and E won this zippered bag with these beautiful stitch markers!

I didn’t actually see much of the game; we were too busy chatting and knitting! I worked on my Cap for the Troops, but between the candy knit and crochet, I didn’t get very far. It was a fun evening, anyway.

11 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, Portland Beavers, Stitch & Pitch

Blogging, and more

Posted on July 20, 2010 | 16 comments

I’m so pleased to announce that I’m going to be blogging for Lantern Moon! I’ve been in a knitting group (the knit nite group) with Sharon Woodcock, one of the owners of Lantern Moon, for about three years. Our group grew out of an intarsia class that we had with Leigh Radford. I was thrilled when Sharon & Joel (her husband, and co-owner of Lantern Moon) asked me to blog for them. Please come check out the new blog here.

We went to the Tigard Knitting Guild meeting last Thursday; Sharon was the guest speaker. It’s a great group of knitters, and I even participated in the show and tell time, with my Pacific Shawl.

I still have to finish writing up the pattern; it’s been on the back burner for a bit. But I hope to have it out to test knit in the next few weeks.

So, not much knitting around here, but I’ve been cooking. This is our new favorite pasta salad. It’s just right for summer. You can put any of your favorite things in it, but here’s what I did:

Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad

Dressing: in a jar, combine and shake well:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or run through garlic press
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

(2025 update note: I also add the zest from the lemon, and maybe a sprinkle of lemon pepper. I like citrus zing!)

For the salad:
1 pound orzo pasta, cooked, rinsed, and cooled (this makes a LOT. Note: I’ve made this more recently, and I’ve used 12 oz of orzo with reasonable results, or 1/2 lb (8 oz) for a high goodies to pasta ratio. Anything goes.)
2/3 lb asparagus, cut in 1.5 inch pieces (add these to the pasta for the last 1.5 minutes of cooking)
1 14 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and halved
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced in half
1 pint grape tomatoes (whole)
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts

(2025 update: I’m now using 8 oz of pasta for a high goodies to pasta ratio. I no longer have teenaged boys in the house, so the salad doesn’t have to stretch as far. And I like the higher goodies to pasta ratio. I also halve the artichoke heart pieces, so there’s more chance of artichoke heart in every bite.)

Combine salad ingredients and toss with 1/2 the dressing. Store the salad, refrigerated, to let the flavors meld. Before serving, add more of the dressing to refresh. (You can use all, or part, of the remaining dressing, as you desire) We served it with grilled chicken, and really enjoyed it!

What’s cooking/knitting with you?

16 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit, pattern design, recipe

Tagged Knit, lantern moon, lemon orzo pasta salad, pacific shawl, tigard knitting guild

Knitting for the troops

Posted on July 18, 2010 | 8 comments

I recently received an email from Barbara Jennings, who took my class on circular hats in the round at Twisted last year. Since taking the class, she’s made over 40 hats for family and friends. Excellent! Now she wants to do more. She’s involved in an effort to knit caps for soldiers being deployed to Iraq in September, and she’d like more knitters to get involved with this project. Here’s what she has to say:

We need knitters! We recently became aware of a need for 2700 100% wool caps for soldiers being deployed to Iraq in September. If you can make even one cap before the end of August it would be a great help. Please read on to get the cap pattern and pictures and check out the videos of the Idaho organizer – Bea is a Rosie the Riveter from WWII and not deterred by seemingly insurmountable odds. We want to help her reach her goal and get a knitted cap into each soldier’s pack. A huge thank you to our area knit shops for supporting this project! The participating shops are listed on the pattern. Check out the yarn discounts. Barbara Jennings and Carla Harwood – Portland knitters

You can download the pattern here.

And here’s a link to the news story carried on Idaho news station KTVB.

No matter how you feel about the war in Iraq, you may want to knit to provide this bit of comfort to American soldiers. And now I think I know what I’m knitting at Stitch & Pitch on Wednesday night.

Off to find yarn in the stash…

ETA: Well, I really don’t have much stash. There wasn’t enough leftover earth-toned worsted wool to knit the hat, so I popped in at Twisted, and found this:

Lamb’s Pride Superwash 100% wool, colorway lichen. Soft, pretty/handsome, and washable, too. Wool is the requested fiber, so it’s perfect! And it also fixes my formerly picture-less post.

Knit on…

8 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged caps for soldiers, charity knitting, knitting for the troops

Baseball, hot dogs, knitting…

Posted on July 16, 2010 | 8 comments

Stitch & Pitch night is coming! The local Portland Beavers are having their last Stitch & Pitch event; the team is moving after this year.

We go way back with the Beavers. DH worked for them in the 1980’s. I used to sit behind home plate, knitting, knowing that the cage would save me from foul balls even though I wasn’t always paying attention. The Beavs were the Phillies AAA farm team back then; now they’re part of the San Diego Padres organization. DH went on to work for the NY Mets in 1986, a glorious year in which he earned a World Series ring. (I wish it were here for a picture, but it’s in the bank box. Sorry.) Talk about good timing.

My god-daughter is coming to visit from Seattle. She’s a big baseball fan at age 8, and she’s also a knitter! We’ll have a great time. What should I knit? Passiflora isn’t at a stage that would be good mindless knitting. I’m working on neck and shoulder shapings now. Here’s the back: