Self-portrait: No Idle Hands
Truthfully, I’ve been searching for my knitting mojo for the last month or so. I’m not sure what I want to knit next. I think it’s partly because I’m pretty focused on music right now. No worries; it’s all part of the creative process…
How does local weather affect your knitting? That’s today’s question, and it sent me to my Ravelry project page to see what kind of seasonal knitter I am.
There are only two bulky wool sweaters, and I know I set both of them aside as the weather got warmer, thinking I’d finish them when cool weather came around again. I finished this Heather Hoodie cardigan (adapted from the Heather Hoodie Vest pattern) last year…
…and this year’s bulky project was recently set aside and is waiting for next fall. I get suckered into thinking it will be a quick knit because the yarn is bulky, but it’s still an entire sweater. If I don’t finish by the end of winter, I don’t want to keep knitting with a pile of bulky wool when it’s warm out.
But you can knit light summer tops all year ’round, and wear them for three out of four seasons if you add a cute little jacket or cardi over them. This is a much better time investment. Also, tank tops and shells don’t have sleeves, and that makes them a quicker knit all around, even at a finer gauge. This is especially true if it’s a fairly simple knit; I can watch TV or read on my Kindle and knit at the same time.
Accessories are always fun, and not usually heavy, even if they’re wool. I love designing accessories like hats, mitts, and shawls, because they’re quick and portable, and fitting is not as big an issue as it is for garments. Socks and slippers have a little bit of fitting, but they’re not too complicated. Most of my knitting is done with an eye towards design, so that takes up most of my knitting time. Here’s my latest pattern launch, Pointer Mitts and Hat, for the {Among Friends} Yarn and Fiber Club.
Does your weather affect your choice of fiber? I love wool for most knitting, but when I look at all the summer tops I’ve knit I see a lot of cotton, and even some linen and hemp. I don’t mind the inelasticity of cotton, but linen was definitely a stringy challenge. It was all worth it, though, because the blocking was like magic. I washed and soaked this stiff linen tank in the sink after knitting it, and I could feel the fibers turning into the most wonderful slinky drapey fabric in my hands.
So I guess I’m more of a summer knitter, all year ’round! How about you?
I really got your curiosity going with yesterday’s picture post, didn’t I? I’m looking forward to showing you the rest of the story on Saturday. Yesterday’s post was brief because I was heading out of town for this.
A quick dash down to San Jose to see Bruce Springsteen last night. It was a great show. Lots of stuff from his new album, Wrecking Ball, and an encore filled with wonderful old stuff. He’s a great storyteller through song.
But I’m back home to slip in under the wire with my Knit and Crochet Blog Week Day 3 post about my knitting hero, or heroine, as she happens to be. My Aunt Rose taught me to knit the summer I was 14. I spent the summer with her and her family, and she wanted to share her love of knitting with me. We went to her local knit shop to begin a project. My choice was a baby blue drop shoulder turtleneck pullover with some simple cables running up the the body. It was made out of Brunswick Germantown Worsted (how do I even remember that?). I knit it in the round on circular needles, although I’m not sure the instructions were written that way. Aunt Rose was teaching me to be the boss of my knitting from day 1! My first sweater was not quite to gauge, so it ended up being pretty big on me. It didn’t matter; I loved it anyway. Many years later, I felted it on purpose, and that’s when I learned a valuable knitting fact: knitting shrinks up more than it shrinks in! I had a short boxy sweater, which would have been perfect in the 1980’s. I wonder where that sweater is now? But I digress.
Aunt Rose is still knitting, and is part of a knitting group at her favorite yarn shop. We don’t see each other often, but we always talk knitting! The last time she was visiting, she found out that I didn’t own a swift and yarn winder, and insisted on getting me these tools. They’ve gotten a lot of service in the past 6 months; I’m really grateful to have them. This picture is from last fall; my desk isn’t nearly so tidy today.
I’m saving these garments that Aunt Rose knit when my boys were born; someday they’ll get used again, I hope! (But not too soon…)
Do you have a knitting hero?
There’s a story here. I’ll tell you about it on Saturday. I promise.
Gotta run!
No, I’m perfectly happy. But quick, close your eyes. What color do you think of when you think of me? I’m guessing it’s blue. Look at my blog header. Look at my featured patterns on the sidebar. I think you can see that blue is one of my favorite colors. Here are projects that I wear all the time. It’s a theme!
There are more, but I think you’ve got the idea. My other favorites are red and purple, which is just red plus blue.
I love knitting with hand-dyed semi-solid yarns; contrasty variegated yarns where I don’t control the colors and where they land give me the willies. The exception to this is the lovely long color change yarns that work so well with entrelac. And because the dyer has already chosen a color palette that works, I don’t have to be afraid of clashing combinations!
Notice a preponderance of blue/purple? I’m a creature of habit! What colors make your heart go pitty-pat? Do you like a monochromatic theme, or are you great at combining color? Combos are not my forte; it’s all trial and error. Someday…
Happy Knit and Crochet Blog Week! Today’s theme is…color! 3KCBWDAY1
I’m a fan of the blog Eskimimi Makes; she’s always creating something fun. Now she’s participating in a creative “pay it forward” project, and I am, too. Here’s the scoop, as slurped from her blog:
1. I will send a surprise gift to the first three commenters on this post. The gift will be handmade by me. It will be sent sometime in the next 365 days. It will be a surprise. We all love getting surprises in the mail, right?
2. To sign up and receive a gift, you must play along, too. Pay it Forward on your blog, by promising to make a surprise for the first three people who comment on the post.
3. You must have a blog (that is updated, as I will blog stalk you to find the right gift for you).
4. After commenting here, you must repost this or something similar to your blog in 48 hours. If not, I will chose the next person who comments…
Sound like fun? Want to play? If you would like to receive a little handmade gift from me at some point in the next 365 days and agree to take part on your own blog and pay it forward, then leave your details below. If you’re one of the first three respondents, you’re in! If you’re not in the first three, pop over to the blogs of the first three respondents here (remember, there are 48 hours after your comment appearing here for you to post the Pay It Forward on your own blog, otherwise I will move on to the next person). I’m happy to accept respondents worldwide, too.
Let’s do it!
What else is going on this week? It’s been a numbers heavy week. Taxes at the beginning (and they weren’t quite right the first time, so back to the accountant for a swap), and then tech editing for someone mid-week. Lots of numbers there, because the stitches have to add up, and the garment has to match the schematic! This is the only kind of math I like.
Here’s what I’m knitting this week. Can you guess what it is?
Well, yes, it looks like a hat, and it would actually be a good one, because the stranded fabric is nice and dense and would keep the wind out. But it’s not a hat. It’s my homework for a class I’m taking on Sunday at Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival. The class is Eeek! Steeks! with Mary Scott Huff. I’m going to be cutting this knitting up…on purpose. I’m looking forward to it! There’s still room in the class if you want to come, too. Check out the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival website for more info. Not up for class? Come out for the market this weekend!
Also, do you see the little blurry picture on the laptop screen behind the knitting homework? It’s for the third annual Knit and Crochet Blog Week, which begins April 23. Do you want to play along? You’ll find the topics listed on this page. These links are all for Eskimimi Makes, so it’s a very Eskimimi post today!
I was inspired by Nancy Ricci’s Facebook post of a beautiful beaded necklace that she had crocheted. She made it with C-lon thread, a size 1.75 mm crochet hook, and lots of beads. I had to give it a try.
You begin by pre-stringing all your beads on to the thread. The last bead you thread will be the first that gets crocheted in. I found that a dental floss threader was a big help for stringing beads, but it’s hard to get the relatively thick thread through some of those tiny bead holes, and using the threader means that it’s a double thickness going through.
Nancy crocheted one stitch between each beaded stitch. I decided I liked the look of two chain stitches between each bead.
You can see my progress from threaded beads to crocheted beads here.
I originally thought I was going to make three graduated strands, but I didn’t like the way they looked as singles. They kind of curl back on themselves, and I wanted stick-straight strands. I decided to make them all the same length, and braid them slightly to give them some heft. As I was finishing the last 4 inches of beads, my strands got straighter, so there may have been some operator error involved.
I finished the ends of each strand with knot covers (there may be another name for these clamshells that cover your knots) and connected them to a jump ring, which I then connected to a toggle set. (Like the gecko?) The knot covers aren’t quite the same color as the toggle set, but they’re close enough. They look like beads.
When I was done, I wasn’t sure I liked the necklace, because it wasn’t what I had envisioned. But I’ve been wearing it today to see how it hangs, and I like it more and more.
(Ah, yes, the bathroom mirror picture.) Too bad it’s not for me! If I were to do it again, I think I’d see about bigger beads (to give it more visual weight and maybe hang straighter? and then I could have my three graduated strands) or thinner C-lon (it comes in weights, but there was only one weight at the bead store) for these smaller beads. I wanted to put some freshwater pearls in, but the thread was too thick for the holes in the pearls. More fun things to play with!
The first {Among Friends} club shipment has gone out, and now I can show you what I’ve been working on. If you’re waiting for your shipment and don’t want to see, come back later.
This is Pointer, a fingerless mitts and hat set worked in DK weight yarn.
The design began with the mitts. I knew I wanted to use this sweet loop stitch that I learned in Gayle Roehm’s “Designing with Japanese Stitch Dictionaries” class at Sock Summit. But straightforward columns of loop stitch would be boring, so I graduated the columns to echo the fingers on a pointing hand. I tried a couple different thumb treatments, and this is the one I liked best.
I still had a lot of yarn left after the mitts were done, so I decided to add a hat. I’ve been eyeing berets for a while; it seems like they’re more wearable than other hat styles for me. I don’t like to hide all my hair; it makes me look like an egg! Berets solve this problem by sitting back a bit.
Isn’t it amazing what a good blocking will do? Here are two berets, one before and one after blocking.
For those of you who like a more traditional hat, that option is here, too. I love the loop stitch, so I featured it on the hat band as well as the body of the hat.
I’m really pleased with this pattern, and pleased to be the designer for the launching of the {Among Friends} Yarn and Fiber Club. This club is the collaboration project of Lorajean Kelley (Knitted Wit) and Brooke Sinnes (Sincere Sheep). You can find more information on the pattern on the Pointer Mitts and Hats pattern page. Thank you to my friend Bobbi for modeling!
In the excitement of the launch, I forgot that I had signed up for the club, too. My package came yesterday. Brooke is the dyer for the first club shipment. Her DK weight yarn, Luminous, is 85% Polwarth Wool, 15% Tussah Silk. The color this month is Damson Plum, and it is luscious.
Because I signed up early for the club, there was a special treat included. These stitch markers are lovely!
And clearly, I already have the pattern for this month. I’m currently finishing a pair of mitts in Orchid to match the beanie hat. I have my Azulite and Beaujolais beret and mitts sets in Lorajean’s DK already (same yarn base). What should I knit with Brooke’s yarn? I’m not sure I need another set, but I do love knitting with this yarn base!
Posted in Knit, pattern design
Tagged Among Friends, knitted wit, Pointer, Pointer Mitts, Sincere Sheep
Where have I been? Not knitting much. I took a trip to Orlando last week to see CollegeGuy. DH was in Orlando working on a project, so I thought I’d just go use his hotel room. I left on Tuesday, but got stuck in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport while waiting for a connecting flight, due to some tornados. I kid you not. At first they asked us to move away from the windows. Then to move to the center of the terminal. And then the sirens went off and they put us in the storm shelters (bathrooms).
I was slightly amused by this, thinking it was a great bloggable moment, but then the storm came through (no tornado at the airport, thank goodness). The sky was really dark, the wind was howling, there was lightning, thunder, and golfball-sized hail bouncing off the windows. And that shut everything down for the night. No flights. When I saw the video of tractor trailers flying through the air, I realized it was way more serious than I had thought.
After a sleepless night in a hotel, more canceled flights, three re-bookings, and three standby lines, I was lucky to make it to Orlando Wednesday night, due to the kindness of an excellent ticket agent. I was flying first class on an award ticket, and she found a first class seat through Miami. I was too fried to knit, but at least it was a nice flight.
I had 2 instead of 3 days to see the Kiddo, but we made the most of it. I took him to Cocoa Beach, because it’s the end of his freshman year and he still hadn’t been to a Florida beach.
It was great to visit with Dee while Kiddo was in class. Look at the UCF Knights snowman she made for me. With beads!
And the trip home was smooth and uneventful. Thank goodness. I knit an entire something, which I can’t show you until the next post. But soon!
How was *your* week?
I finished knitting String Theory, and then the fun began. This is what it looked like after binding off. You have to drop some of the stitches in the purl section before you can continue binding off the next knit section. The purl section grows in width when the stitches are dropped, and you need to know how wide that section will be while binding off.
You can also see how much yarn I left unknit. I wouldn’t get much more height from it, so I just stopped knitting. Here are a few purl sections completely dropped. The piece kept getting wider and wider (which translates to longer and longer as a scarf).
I love how this looks. Since the knit sections are stockinette, they tend to curl on themselves, leaving the back side as the public side. It’s all good; that side is pretty, too.
It seems a shame to purl all those stitches, just to get rid of them at the end, but the results are worth it.
(‘scuse the myspace style photo)
I’m wearing this triple-looped around my neck. The finished length is 90 inches after wet-blocking. I think I would have liked this a little shorter and a bit wider (fewer stitches cast on, more rounds knit), but it’s pretty hard to know how long it’s going to be before dropping all those stitches. The purl sections were only 2 stitches wider than the knit sections, but what a difference after the drop!
You really want a smooth yarn for this project, because dropping stitches in hairy yarn would be really frustrating. This Malabrigo Arroyo is very smooth, so it was perfect for this project. I could have made it wider with another skein of yarn, but I’m not sure I could have endured knitting any more.
I’m really happy with this project. A little boring to knit, but good TV/travel knitting, after I figured out the appropriate sized needles. (That was totally my error.)
Now I want to knit a million other things!
PDXKnitterati 