Category Archives: Knit

To the frog pond…again!

Posted on October 5, 2012 | 4 comments

Ripping, ripping, ripping. This is the shawlette I completely frogged at the beginning of the week, and I re-knit it with my intended changes. I love it. So why am I ripping again?

I have my heart set on a particular edging at the top of this crescent shawlette, and there’s not enough yarn to make it happen. I need at least 28 grams, according to the scale, and I have 25. How will I get there? I’m going to change the rate of the short row decreases to make the curve shallower, with fewer rows, and hope that gives me enough for the 6 rows of edging, plus the bind off. Wish me luck!

4 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged design, shawlette

Be the boss of your knitting

Posted on September 30, 2012 | 7 comments

Does your knitting know who’s boss? Are you a fearless knitter? Not yet? Here’s your chance. I’m teaching Tink Drop Frog (how to fix your mistakes) at Stash in Corvallis this Saturday morning, October 6. If you’re local, come learn to whip your knitting into shape in this two hour workshop.

I’m also teaching a Christmas stocking class in the afternoon. You’ll learn stranded color knitting, and turning a heel. A Christmas stocking is a perfect first sock because it’s knit with big yarn and needles, and you only have to knit one! No second sock syndrome. It’s not too early to get your holiday knitting going. Call Stash to register for either of these classes.

I am definitely the boss of my knitting. I knit a shawl while I was traveling in Europe earlier this month, on trains from Amsterdam to Bruges, Bruges to Paris, Paris to Reims and back. Here’s what it looks like now:

Yep. Frogged it. I didn’t love the finished object, and this lovely HazelKnits yarn deserves better. I know exactly what I want to change. (What, me swatch? The whole garment is a swatch!) I’m knitting on bigger needles, and I changed the motif of the pattern. I’m already much happier with it. I don’t mind frogging; I enjoyed knitting on the trains and I’m enjoying knitting now.

While I was gone, Leticia (Starlight Knitting) sent me these stitch markers to sample.

They’re square! And also snag free. They fit up to a size 7 needle (although I cast on with an 8 and it was fine), and are light and unobtrusive. I love them! Leticia has teamed up with several independent dyers (Sincere Sheep, Knitted Wit, Canon Hand Dyes) to make stitch markers that coordinate with their color palettes. Canon Hand Dyes (Amy Lee) and Starlight Knitting even debuted a Downton Abbey inspired yarn and stitch marker collection. How fun is that? The blue-green markers above are Lady Sybil. Remember her modern pant suit?

Do you use stitch markers? I like using them when casting on a lot of stitches, to mark off groups of 50 so I don’t have to re-count them, and to mark off pattern repeats when knitting, or just to tell my fingers that it’s time to pay attention to something. I’ve made some of my own before, but I don’t think you can ever have too many. I’ve even made them from a cut up drinking straw, in a pinch, but pretty is better. It’s like jewelry for your knitting. How about you?

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged classes, stitch markers

OFFF 2012

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 8 comments

DH and I went globe trotting to celebrate our 30th(!) anniversary: Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris. I’m finally starting to catch up with myself after jet lag plus a busy week at home. We arrived home on Friday night at 11, and I went to Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival the next day at noon. I didn’t want to miss my favorite fiber festival of the year, and I couldn’t go on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous: sunny and warm.

This is the first year since I started going to OFFF that I didn’t help Lorajean (Knitted Wit) set up her booth. Looks like she managed to get it done without me; set-up day was my travel day.

It was Brooke’s (Sincere Sheep) first OFFF; she came with a beautiful rainbow of yarn and fiber. She and Lorajean are launching more Among Friends fun; check it out here.

I took my half pi shawl to Abstract Fiber to show Susan what I had made with her lovely laceweight Hepburn yarn. This was the shawl I made for my birthday, but really it was for our anniversary dinner in Paris. Dinner and the shawl were both lovely.

Yvonne (Lavender Sheep) and her new little one were there. Yvonne is a dyer, and also the organizer of the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival, coming in April.

Chrissy Gardiner was at the Lavender Sheep booth signing copies of her new book, Indie Socks. This book is full of Chrissy’s beautiful and clever patterns for socks using yarn from indie dyers.

I caught up with Jen from Andersen Fiber Works. (Love her sweater!)

And my friend Sarah, who is the fastest knitter I know. And very accomplished, too; her knitting knowledge is encyclopedic. (Do I look a little dazed? Not bad for 4 hours of sleep, after being up 24 hours traveling. Oy!)

Nadine showed me her handspun sweater project. I last saw it in our steek class last spring. Yes, she cut her handspun knitting! I had a nice chat with her friend Midge, too.

I didn’t make it to the animal barns. I came home with just a little yarn. I wanted some browns, which I’ve never worn before. I’m branching out!

Lovely warm browns in this Eponymous Sock yarn, color Mulch, from Three Fates Yarn.

And this cool brown Shine from Knitted Wit.

This plummy Icicle Creek yarn from Rain City Fiber Arts. I fell for the color, and the golden sparkle of the stellina.

Did you go to OFFF? What have you been up to while I was gone?

I’ll tell you about my travels in another post. This one is long enough already!

8 Comments

Posted in Knit, yarn

Tagged OFFF

Shawlette inspiration

Posted on September 8, 2012 | 6 comments

I have an idea for a shawlette, and I think it’s working out. I’m inspired by the color of this yarn. It’s HazelKnits fingering, can’t remember which version, or the color name. Geez, I’m a lot of help, aren’t I?

It’s zipping along since this picture. And this fingering weight yarn feels really phat after knitting the laceweight shawl. Just sayin’. More later…

Oh! Don’t forget, my birthday pattern sale runs through tomorrow, Sunday September 9. Celebrate!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Knit

Ruffle Kerfuffle is live!

Posted on September 5, 2012 | 15 comments

It’s my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to add new designs to my pattern collection?

This is the Ruffle Kerfuffle scarflet. It was my original idea for this design, knit in the round with a steek to cut, and the ruffled ends and criss-cross buttons. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I also knit a longer version, the Ruffle Kerfuffle Scarf.

So cute! But what about those knitters that don’t ever want to cut a steek?

No steek, no ruffle. Something for everyone

You can find more information on these patterns on the Ruffle Kerfuffle page.

To celebrate my birthday, I’m having a sale! $1 off any pattern in my Ravelry store, no limit. This includes Ruffle Kerfuffle! The sale is through Sunday, September 9.

And if you’re interested in a Kerfuffle KAL, and virtual hand-holding for the steeking, let me know. I’m also teaching a steeking class with this pattern at Twisted in Portland on the Monday after Thanksgiving. C’mon, you know you want to!

15 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged kerfuffle, ruffle kerfuffle

Three year socks

Posted on September 3, 2012 | 10 comments

I did it. It didn’t take long at all. Why did it take me three years and four months to finish these socks?

I did graft the toe of the second (left) sock. It’s not that I don’t know how; it’s that I knit socks so rarely that I always have to look it up. But I did, and it’s done. It looked enough like the right sock (draw the yarn through the remaining 8 stitches) that it wasn’t worth going back to re-do the first one.

These are a heavily modified adaptation of Cookie A’s Kai-Mei socks. My Chinese name is Lai-Wah, so I named them for myself. You can see a description of the changes on this three year old blog post, if you’re interested.

Now what should I knit? More socks? Another shawl? I want a relatively mindless, portable knit…

10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged grafting, kitchener stitch, lai-wah sock

Birthday Pi…

Posted on September 2, 2012 | 20 comments

may be even better than birthday cake. No calories!

It’s my birthday later this week, and I wanted to have this shawl finished to wear. Done! I’ve decided I’m not a fan of knitting with laceweight yarn, but the result is so lovely. The pattern is the EZ 100th Anniversary Gull Wings half circle (Rav link). I knit this on Hiya Hiya sharps, size 4. Loved the pointiness. Didn’t like the slipperiness; not enough control for this loose knitter. But I was afraid to change needles in the middle of the project, for fear of changing gauge. When I went to bind off, I used a larger needle anyway, so I went back to my Lantern Moon ebony in a size 6. Just enough texture to keep the slipperiness at bay.

I did most of the binding off at Waterfront Park the other night, which is like Portland’s living room. (Some would say that Pioneer Courthouse Square is Portland’s living room, but I like the view from this one better.) The Portland Symphony plays a free concert to open the symphony season, and it always ends with the 1812 Overture and fireworks. A lovely evening.

It’s a party!

But I digress. Here’s the shawl, just off the needles. Kind of scrunchy and unimpressive.

I wet blocked it on my ancient cardboard cutting board in the back yard. The radius is 26 inches, so the diameter is 52. Heh, math.

It was so warm out, the shawl kept drying out before I was done. I couldn’t find a spray bottle, and the sprayer on my iron doesn’t work. So I turned the hose on it after I finished pinning it out. Gently. With the spray nozzle. Pointed up in the air.

It dried really quickly! I gave the rest of the yarn (47 grams out of 100) to my friend Claudia; she doesn’t mind knitting with laceweight and the color is great for her. Now I’m finishing my 3 year sock.

I took that picture yesterday, and now I’m down to the end. Do I graft the toe, or do I finish with my usual “run the yarn through the needles and pull tight because I’m too lazy to look up kitchener stitch”? If I kitchener, I’d have to undo the first one and do that, too; I want them to match. It might be a good exercise, though. What do you think?

20 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged blocking, blueberry pi shawl, lai-wah sock

How long does it take…

Posted on August 30, 2012 | 4 comments

How long does it take to knit a pair of socks?

I started this pair of socks on April 15, 2009, according to Ravelry. I even blogged about it that week. Apparently I finished the first sock and blogged about that, too on April 21, 2009, so 6 days for a sock.

Soon after, I started a new project, and set the socks aside. Just for a while, I thought. And then I forgot all about them.

Last week, a reader emailed me and asked about the twisted edging on the top of the sock, and I sent her a link. I told her that I hadn’t finished mine, and she encouraged me to do so. I found the sock, figured out where I was in the pattern, and here we go.

Let’s see how long it takes!

Oh, what’s that underneath? I bought a project bag from Slipped Stitch Studios. I love the Eiffel Tower, and this struck my fancy.

This drawstring bag is really nice; it has a squared bottom and is lined with a contrasting fabric. And it has two pockets inside!

I think I’ll put my socks inside, and take them knitting en plein air. Voila, La Tour Eiffel is getting to me already!

4 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged lai-wah, second sock syndrome, sock knitting

Looking for a few test knitters

Posted on August 25, 2012 | 9 comments

I’m looking for a few test knitters to knit my newest design in the works, the Ruffle Kerfuffle scarf and/or the related Kerfuffle Cowl. These are knit in the round in a heavy worsted weight (Malabrigo Worsted Merino). Both are knit from color charts; there are only two colors per round. The cowl is pretty straightforward. The scarf? Knit in the round and steeked! Are you feeling…adventurous?

I have a limited amount of yarn in appropriate colors, or if you have stash yarn in colors you like better, that would work, too. The project requires one variegated and one coordinating solid or semi-solid color. Malabrigo Worsted Merino is perfect; I think KnitPicks Chroma would be gorgeous, too. I’d like the project done in 1-2 weeks.

If you’re interested in test knitting for me, either this project or another, let me know in the comments and I’ll contact you. (Scarf? Cowl?) I can’t offer you diamonds, gold, or even yarn, but you’d have access to a new design that will be fun to knit, and you get to keep the final project.

Knit on!

9 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged kerfuffle, test knitters

I envy the heirloom tomato gardeners

Posted on August 22, 2012 | 7 comments

Yet even with storebought tomatoes, this was delicious. Pretty as a picture, this is a perfect dish to take to an end of summer potluck.

Caprese Cannellini Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I used half regular and half white balsamic, but either is fine)
12 oz farfalle pasta, cooked al dente and cooled
8 ounces fresh Ciliegine (cherry size) mozzarella balls, cut into quarters
5 Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks, or 1 10 oz package cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15 oz can cannellini, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

In a large bowl combine pasta, mozzarella, tomatoes, beans, and basil. Drizzle with about half dressing and gently toss until thoroughly combined. Adjust seasonings as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Before serving toss with a little more dressing to refresh. Enjoy!

In other news, I’m a double lucky winner! Leslie at More with Les was giving away a copy of the Knitting 2013 calendar because she has two patterns in it. I won! And she also gave away five copies of her new e-book, Cheer. I was the fifth on the list, so I have that too. It has a great beginning. I have it as next in my kindle to read when I finish the current book. Thank you, Leslie!

The calendar is a collection of single sheets that come in a box. The box converts into an easel to hold the pages. Leslie’s patterns are for a hat and some fingerless mitts, which would be great for quick gift knits.

Aren’t they cute? I’m looking forward to paging through this calendar as the seasons turn. Speaking of which, it’s been comfortably cool here the past few days. I’m knitting with Malabrigo Merino Worsted, finally putting the finishing touches on a design I started back in May. Super cute. I look forward to sharing it with you soon! What’s on your needles? Are you thinking autumn yet?

7 Comments

Posted in Knit, recipe

Tagged caprese pasta salad