Category Archives: Knit

Crafty Mom Weekend 7.0

Posted on March 10, 2010 | 17 comments

What I didn’t tell you about the Portland Yarn Crawl: I wasn’t going to be there! I had a Pippi Hat at Happy Knits in the scavenger hunt, but that was it for me. I was at the beach for Crafty Mom weekend. This was the seventh annual getaway; there were 10 of us this year. The weather doesn’t matter much. If it’s nice, I get some good walks in. If it’s not nice, the view from the window is enough.

I had a very productive weekend. I started my Felted Slip Stitch Tote shop sample for Twisted. I love the vibrant colors of Brown Sheep’s Lanaloft. And the pattern just flies along. I would have finished it, but I had a few other projects that needed work, too.

I started and finished a secret project; I’ll tell you about that someday soon. I played the guitar. I wrote lyrics for a song. I did a little spinning with my drop spindle. I enjoyed the view!

I worked on my Heather Hoodie. The cables are lovely. I love how the cable pattern ended at exactly the right place to make an “O” when I joined the shoulders. Serendipity!

But even before the weekend, my hands were already aching from knitting cables with bulky yarn. Manipulating the stitches makes my hands tired. I’m cabling without a cable needle (see tutorials on the sidebar), but I don’t think it would be any better if I used one, because I’d still be manipulating the stitches. I’ve been playing a lot of guitar, too, so my hands feel used and abused!

I joined the fronts to the back, and I did the math to knit sleeves down from the armholes. I’m going to make the sleeves plain stockinette rather than cable some more. I’d like to finish this and wear it before it gets too warm! It snowed on us on the drive back over the Coast Range, so there’s still time…

What did you do this weekend?

17 Comments

Posted in Knit, spinning, travel

Tagged beach, bulky yarn, cable wthout cable needle, heather hoodie, Knit

Getting ahead of myself

Posted on February 22, 2010 | 19 comments

Spring has truly sprung here in the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures are in the 50’s; the crocuses and daffodils are glorious. And the first cherry trees are blooming, too.

What says spring better than a bag of cheery color from the yarn shop?

Twisted is now carrying Brown Sheep yarns. They carry three weights (bulky, worsted, sport) of Lanaloft, a single-spun 100% wool yarn, as well as an ultra-bulky known as Burly Spun. The price is great. I brought home some worsted weight to knit a shop sample of my felted slip stitch tote.

But wait, you say, what about the Heather Hoodie? I’m still plugging away at that, because I want to wear it before it gets too warm here! The back is done, and the left front is just past the armhole. Pictures next time.

19 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged brown sheep, Knit, lanaloft, yarn

Vox knituli

Posted on February 17, 2010 | 14 comments

The knitters have spoken. Rip it! So I did. I frogged 7 inches (almost an entire skein) on the back of my Heather Hoodie so I could go back and bind off for armhole shaping for a modified drop shoulder instead of having a standard drop shoulder. There were 8 stockinette stitches on each edge, so I bound off 6 for each armhole, which is about an inch and a half. This was the most I could bind off and still be able to pick up between the last 2 stockinette stitches before the cable panels. I want to pick up stitches at the shoulder and knit down, rather than sew in the sleeve. Re-knitting the back is going well. I love the OXO cable on this.

Do you see the little ladder at the center of the X in the OXO cable? Those were bugging me. Then I finally opened a Knitting Daily email about blocking that had been sitting in my box for a week. What timing. It’s about this very cable in the Heather Hoodie pattern. No worries now; I know that blocking is going to fix those!

In other OXO news, I’m sending $265 from sales of my Hugs and Kisses OXO Cable Fingerless Mitts to Doctors Without Borders. Thank you for purchasing this pattern.

And it really does feel like spring here. Temperatures in the 50’s, and it got sunny today! I took advantage of the break in the rain, and walked down to the local library. Here’s a little taste of spring. Most of the pix are from my camera phone, so they’re not quite up to the usual standard. But they make me smile.

Last year’s something or other.

Snowdrops.

Daffodils! and crocus! It must be spring.

Do you know what these are? I think they’re gorgeous, and I saw a lot of them. I want to plant some…

14 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged heather hoodie, help for Haiti, Hugs and Kisses Fingerless Mitts, Knit

Auto-pilot knitting

Posted on February 14, 2010 | 17 comments

I ripped back my mistake on the Heather Hoodie, and re-knit back up to where I was, and then some. I’m at 20 out of 22 inches on the back. This morning I woke up and remembered that I had planned to modify the pattern and bind off a bit at the armholes to make this a modifed drop shoulder instead of a full on drop shoulder. Oops. Guess I was knitting on auto-pilot. The Olympic men’s short track skating was so thrilling, I lost track of what I was doing!

So I’m looking for opinions here. I’m 5’2″, not a big person. The fabric of this is pretty dense, and I have about an inch to 1.5 inches of ease all around on this cardi. Do I rip back 6 inches so that I have 8 inches of armhole for a modified drop sleeve, better shoulder fit), or just carry on as written and have sleeves that start further down from my shoulder? It’s pretty quick knitting, big yarn and big needles, so I don’t mind doing it. I just have to decide if it will make enough difference to be worth it. Here’s a picture from the pattern, if that helps. I’m planning on long sleeves instead of this vest look.

For now this project is in time-out, awaiting your advice. But in the meantime, you can admire how the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky looks like it has a vertical stripe. It’s because it a singles yarn, not plied. Instead of V’s, the left leg of each knit stitch looks like a half a V, and the right leg looks like a vertical line. I like it.

I’m back at work on my sister’s Quincy hat. It’s never-ending garter stitch for quite a while. Still garter stitching…

I really like the knit-in i-cord edging. So tidy!

Thanks to all who helped celebrate Marie’s birthday. The blog party was fun! I took the names of all of you who were interested in the dpn case and put them in a Pippi hat. And the winner is…

Katy over at What Katy Did! Katy, please email me your snail mail addy, and I will send you the needle case. Congratulations!

And happy lunar new year and Valentine’s Day to you all, too. Are you celebrating? Gung hay fat choy!

17 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged heather hoodie, Knit, quincy hat

Franken-tar, redux

Posted on February 12, 2010 | 15 comments

Spring is coming, and that makes us a little bouncier around here. Off the wall dreams seem like good ideas. And perhaps they are. What if we take those ideas one step further? You may remember the Teen’s Franken-tar.

I had a lesson the other day with Jim Loewenherz. He’s a local musician and luthier. We worked on some strum patterns for Irish reels and jigs. Near the end of the lesson I asked him about bass runs and fills for a song I’m working on with the Day Old Pastries, but all of that was pretty much over my head because I’d have to learn where the notes actually live on the guitar neck first. I’m a pretty rudimentary guitar player; I love my open cowboy chords, strummed or picked!

So we discussed ensemble play, and he talked about each instrument having its own sonic space, each doing something a little different. The Day Old Pastries have five guitars and a mandolin. The mandolin has its own sonic space by default. But the guitars can each have their own space by having one of them strum, one pick, one capo up for a different voicing. And then Jim asked if we have a 12-string. Nope. an extra guitar? Sure! So he suggested high string Nashville tuning, just for something different. Basically, you string a six string guitar with the extra six strings that you’d find on a 12-string guitar. The lowest four strings are an octave higher than normal, and the top two strings are the same as usual.

I just had to try this to see what it sounds like. I decided to try it on the Teen’s Taylor Big Baby, because he doesn’t play acoustic guitars much, and it’s a comfortable size for me. I poked around on the web and found that D’Addario sells string sets for high string tuning.

What a cool sound! (Listen to the video on the link.) I’m going to take it to practice tomorrow, and we can play around with it.

And now I’m about to go pick out some mis-crossed cables on my Heather Hoodie, ten rows back…ouch! That last “O” isn’t an O.

Here’s a sign of spring that I saw on my walk this morning.

Crocuses are blooming here! Is it winter or spring in your neighborhood?

15 Comments

Posted in Day Old Pastries, Knit, music

Tagged Day Old Pastries, guitar, high string tuning, nashville tuning

Single Skein Club 2010

Posted on February 11, 2010 | 8 comments

My family enrolled me in the 2010 Single Skein Club over at Twisted for Christmas. (Thanks, guys!) The club has a project every other month, six during the calendar year. It’s February, which means that it’s time for the first club offering. If you don’t have yours yet, and don’t want to know, look away now!

Have you averted your eyes? It’s almost too late!

Okay; it’s time.

This month’s offering is a sweet cowl and cuffs pattern by Star Athena. Star is the manager over at Twisted, and she’s also a brilliant designer with a primo sense of style, and a great teacher, too. I took her Sock Design class at Sock Summit last summer. Star’s Arctic Blast Mitts were the February kick off for the club last year. I made those…twice! Remember these?

The yarn this month is Malabrigo Twist, a worsted weight plied baby merino wool yarn, in the Indiecita coloway. I love it. Blues and greens; it’s perfect. It feels wonderful.

Look at the color…

And this month’s goodie? A project bag from Flower Pie Designs, also local to Portland. The bags are all different, so don’t be surprised to see someone else’s completely different Single Skein Club project bag! (Yes I know the characters are upside down. I can even read some of them. On the back of the bag, they’re right side up, because the bag is one piece of fabric, folded, not two pieced together.)

I love this bag; it will be perfect for corralling my project inside my big Sock Summit tote.

There are a few spaces left in the Single Skein Club. You can pick up your club kits locally, or Twisted will ship to you if you’re far away. Contact Twisted if you want in on the fun!

And here’s a sweet opportunity for those of you who are local to PDX. Sweet Sound of Jazz, a fund-raiser for the Band programs at Grant High School. Enjoy music and a dessert buffet, Friday evening, February 12, 7 p.m.

8 Comments

Posted in Knit, music

Tagged dessert, Knit, malabrigo, single skein club, sweet sound of jazz, yarn

Blog party!

Posted on February 9, 2010 | 24 comments

Happy birthday to Marie! She’s having a birthday party over at PermissionToUnwind, and I’m helping her celebrate. Go on over there and wish her a happy birthday!

I’m fashionably late. I was up late last night baking for the party. We’re having Butterscotch Shortbread (recipe here).

And we’re also having Butterscotch Brownies. This is completely Carrie’s fault, because I saw these on her blog the other day, and I knew I had to make them.

And what’s a party without a present? I’m giving away this Wrap and Roll dpn needle case from Lantern Moon. It’s gorgeous silk.

It has silk taffeta pockets inside for your skinny dpns. You could also put bigger ones in there, but you’d have to spread them out over 2 pockets.

If you’d like to be in the drawing for the needle case, please say so in your comment. If you just want to comment, do that, too! I’ll close the drawing at midnight between Saturday and Sunday (Valentine’s Day!). I’m a big believer in birthday *week*, not just a day.

Happy birthday, Marie!

24 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit, recipe

Tagged birthday, lantern moon, permissiontounwind, recipe, wrap and roll

Cast on!

Posted on February 7, 2010 | 11 comments

My yarn order came in at Close Knit. It’s Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Bing Cherry. Isn’t it luscious? The red is so deep and rich. Just like, well, a bing cherry!

I’m knitting a Heather Hoodie Vest. It has OXO cables similar to the ones on my fingerless mitts, but they’re much wider. I’m planning to make this vest into a sweater with long sleeves, and to make the hood smaller. I’ll never wear the hood; I just need it for style points. I never wear the hood on my Central Park Hoodie, either.

Here’s where I am so far after 2 hours or so. I’m enjoying the fat yarn on my size 10 Lantern Moon ebony circulars. The needles are smooth, and the yarn is chunky and quick to knit. We’ll see how long this takes. I’d like to wear it before it gets too warm!

And while I’m thinking of my Hugs and Kisses OXO Cable Fingerless Mitts, I should remind you that all proceeds from online sales until Valentine’s Day are going to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti Earthquake Relief. I’m up to $245; can we make it up to $300? let’s do it!

11 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged brown sheep lamb's pride bulky, heather hoodie, Knit, yarn

Buttermilk Sky, and Pippi, redux

Posted on February 6, 2010 | 16 comments

It feels like I haven’t been knitting much lately. I’ve been impatiently waiting for some yarn I ordered, and kind of at loose ends while waiting. I guess I must have done some knitting, though, because I have two FO’s to show you.

This sweet little cowl is called Buttermilk Sky. It’s a design by Bonnie Sinnott over at Blue Peninsula. I was the lucky winner of her pattern and this sumptuous Blue Sky Alpaca Silk last November.

This was a quick and easy knit, and the yarn was so nice to knit with.

Haven’t you seen clouds like this?

Thank you, Bonnie!

My other FO is a variation on my Pippi hat. I taught a Pippi hat class last month at Twisted, and started a hat as a demonstration model. Since I was nearly done with it by the time classes were over, I went ahead and finished. I love these colors together. One of the colors in the stripe sequence on top isn’t the same as in the previous blue/green/white Pippi, but I was working from stash, so this is what I have. I also got distracted and didn’t follow the chart for the last colorwork pattern; oops. Class was fun; everyone learned to carry two colors in their knitting, and also how to make i-cord and half double crochet. A success!

My special order yarn came in this week. More on that in another post…

Knit on!

16 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit

Tagged alpaca silk, buttermilk sky, cowl, earflap hat, Knit, pippi hat

Darn it!

Posted on January 31, 2010 | 19 comments

And I did. I went from this:

To this:

I just duplicate stitched over the existing bits of yarn, and it came out great. The only way I can tell is that the new yarn is whiter than the old yarn, because the red hasn’t run on it yet. Good as new!

And here’s the repaired cuff of my sweater sleeve:

The color is a pretty good match. I couldn’t quite get the new stitches to look exactly like the bound off edge, but I think this is good enough. Here’s the detail on the yoke. I really love this old sweater.