PDXKnitterati

Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell: Minor surgery

Posted on June 24, 2008 | 6 comments

I subscribed to Interweave Knits magazine last summer. When my summer issue came, I fell in love with this: the Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell by Angela Hahn. By the time I finished, it was definitely fall, so I put it away for the winter.

This morning, I took Lutea out of my closet and put it on. I didn’t like the way it fit. It felt floppy, drapey, and the armholes were gappy. Bleah. I poked at it a bit and decided the armholes were too deep for me.

This afternoon, I picked out the three needle bind off at the shoulder, ripped back four rows of lace on the front and back, and re-did the three needle bind off. Had to try it on to see if I was on the right track. YES! I did the same surgery to the other shoulder, worked in the ends, and voila! A well-fitting shell. It no longer feels floppy and drapey, either. Amazing what a little surgery can do.

Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell by Angela Hahn. Knit with KnitPicks Shine Worsted, US size 8 needles. Modifications: Garter stitch hem instead of a rolled hem, shortened body by an inch or so, and the shoulder surgery described above. I’m going to wear it tomorrow. Summer is finally here! Many thanks to Kid2 for patiently taking a bazillion pictures until I saw one I liked.

While reviewing the pictures in the camera, I saw this!

It’s dated today, 3:38 pm. Kid1 must have taken it while I was out this afternoon. I was flabbergasted. I thought I had vanquished my little friend Onan, and had even started a blog post about it (still in draft mode, waiting for a slow day). Apparently I was a bit premature with my victory dance. I emailed the picture to The Husband (away at guitar camp), and he said, “GAME ON!”

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, the squirrel

Tagged Angela Hahn, Knit, Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell, squirrel

Josephine’s shoulders: short rows

Posted on June 22, 2008 | 6 comments

I’m a big fan of the three needle bind off for shoulder seams. I’m in this for the knitting, not the sewing! Fewer sewn seams = happier knitter. Josephine has slightly sloping shoulders instead of a straight across seam, so I needed to learn a new trick before I could use a three needle bind off. Short row shoulder shaping! I found a very good tutorial at Knitty. Worked like a charm. I couldn’t figure out how to simultaneously short row the neck shaping (I ended up finishing in the middle of the shoulder when I tried it), so the neck has a stairstep bindoff, but the shoulder is perfectly smooth. No problem; picking up stitches for the neck on a stairstep bindoff is easy. Here’s the back of Josephine:

And the shoulder:

Modifications so far: shorter on the lace portion at the bottom (reduced by 1/2 repeat) because I’m short and want it to end at hip length, and also I think I’ve arranged things so that the eyelet row that will hold the drawstring will be right under the bust, instead of on it. I think it will look more flattering that way.

On to the front! The other modification that I’m planning is to raise the V-neckline. I hate wearing layers; I don’t want to have to wear a camisole under this. The pattern as written has a very deep V-neck, suitable for a cami underneath, or else a sewn-in lace inset. Neither idea excites me, so I’m just going to start the V neck a bit higher. Fingers crossed!

On the piano front: I finished reading Katie Hafner’s A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould’s Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano last night. I’m not much of a Bach fan; my preferences tend more towards Mozart and Beethoven, but I do love all things piano. I didn’t know much about Gould other than that he recorded two definitive versions of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, early and late in his career. It was really interesting to learn about him as a person (beyond idiosyncratic) and the piano he loved, but even more interesting to learn about Verne Edquist, the piano technician who tuned and regulated the piano to make it into Gould’s dream come true. You can learn more about the book here:

Look Inside this book

Back to knitting!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, piano, ravelry, Uncategorized

Tagged A Romance on Three Legs, Josephine Top, piano, short row shoulders, three needle bind off

Old Knit Friends

Posted on June 20, 2008 | 3 comments

I was looking in the closet the other day, and I found our old friend Wocket. I knit him in February 1998. He’s a cross between two projects in Debbie Bliss’ Toy Knits: the Small Teddy with Sweater and Wellingtons, and the Pirate Rat. Kid2 had an affection for all things mousey back then, and it was fun to knit something he really liked. The sweater is made with leftovers from Kid2’s sweater.

While I’m thinking of knit toys, here’s one from 1996. It’s Gromit, as in Wallace and Gromit, the claymation characters. The pattern is by Alan Dart, and was published in the magazine Woman’s Weekly in the UK. I was on the KnitList (still am), and someone offered to send me the pattern. Thanks, Norma!

Gromit graces my grand piano, and he’s my Ravelry avatar, too.

3 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged gromit, Knit, knit toys, wallace and gromit

Bike First! Lose the Training Wheels

Posted on June 18, 2008 | 3 comments

So, a quick non-knitting post today. I’m spending mornings this week volunteering at a bike camp for special needs kids. I volunteered with this organization last year, too, and it was the most meaningful week of my summer. Bike First! is part of an amazing program called Lose the Training Wheels. It uses adapted bikes with a succession of rollers on the back to teach children to balance. Each successive roller is more tapered, requiring more balancing skills from the child. It’s not a far leap from the most tapered roller to a regular two-wheeled bike. I had tears in my eyes when my camper mastered a two-wheeler last year. Here’s her story.

Knitting is a fairly sedentary hobby, and I’m feeling pretty decrepit after three mornings of running behind bikes for three hours. But it’s wonderful, and it’s worth it. Please pass the ibuprofen!

Back to knitting tomorrow…

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged bike first, lose the training wheels, special needs kids

WWKIP Day

Posted on June 16, 2008 | 6 comments

Saturday was World-Wide Knit in Public Day. There were lots of activities going on in town, but I was out camping. I love getting away; it’s like getting new eyes. Everything looks different.

My camping gear worked out fine, except for one missing item. Wool socks. I couldn’t get my feet warm enough at night, and that made me regret not bringing these.

I made these in 1997, I think. They’re from Anna Zilboorg’s book, Fancy Feet. I was lucky enough to have a class with Anna at Stitches that year; she taught me to carry both colors in my right hand (I knit English-style). I had previously taught myself to knit continental style so I could carry a color in each hand, but two in the same hand was much faster for me.

Back to WWKIP Day. What did you do? I spent the afternoon on a blanket in the grassy part of the campground. I made a bracelet (beading), worked on Josephine, and on my log cabin blanket. Bev and Laurie were knitting with me, so I think that counts as our contribution for WWKIP Day.

I’m not sure when I’ll declare the log cabin done; right now it measures about 34 inches square. It’s not big enough yet, maybe 48 inches will be the right size? I’ll have to buy more yarn soon. This was perfect campfire knitting, too. No need to look too closely, just knit, knit, knit, until it was time to pick up a new color.

We had a great campfire singalong Saturday night. I can count the chords I know on two hands, but it’s enough for a good singalong, and that’s enough for me.

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, music

Tagged Josephine Top, Knit, knit socks, log cabin, singalong

Camping Gear, PDXKnitterati-style

Posted on June 12, 2008 | 1 comment

I’m going camping with some friends this weekend. It’s a good thing they’re in charge of important things like cooking gear, because I don’t own any. We’ve been camping with most of the same people for 7 or 8 years. It started as a cub scout outing when Kid2 was younger; now it’s just a bunch of families having a good time.

It’s been cold and rainy here for weeks, so I’ve pretty much had my head in the sand about this trip, refusing to believe that it’s going to happen. But today, the sun came out, and it’s supposed to be nice for the weekend. Time to inventory the camping equipment:

Tents and tarps, camp chairs

Sleeping bags, air mattresses, extra blankets

Guitar, song books, music stand

Knitting, knitting, and knitting projects

Jewelry making supplies (more stitch markers!)

A new book to read. This arrived yesterday, and I’m looking forward to diving in. If I’m not playing the piano this weekend, at least I can read about it. A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould’s Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano.

I think I’m set!

1 Comment

Posted in Knit, piano

Tagged A Romance on Three Legs, Knit, piano

Josephine in her finery

Posted on June 9, 2008 | Comments Off

The Josephine Top is coming along. I’m at 8 inches on the back; it’s time for the second set of decreases in the ribbing section. The pattern is easier to remember than I initially thought, so I’m cruising along with only an occasional glance at the chart.

Here’s a closeup of Jo with her new stitch markers between each ribbing and lace section. See the bright lime green rubber one on the end? I need one more new marker!

And I think this looks like a tiara, which is fitting for the Empress.

My pattern writing is stalled for now; I’m pretty focused on making progress on this project. All things in their time.

Comments Off on Josephine in her finery

Posted in Knit

Tagged Josephine Top, knitting, stitch markers

Geek Thrill

Posted on June 8, 2008 | 3 comments

Well, that was a thrill. My last post about stitch markers must have caught someone’s fancy, because all of a sudden I was number 2 on WordPress’s “What’s Hot: Fastest Growing WordPress.com Blogs” list on Saturday night. Not bad for someone who’s been blogging for less than three months.

Sunday morning I woke up and found that I was number 1! I was doing the happy dance, and took a screen shot, too.

By Sunday afternoon, I had fallen off the list, but it was fun while it lasted.

Back to your regularly scheduled knitting. I’ll try to post pictures of the Josephine Top with the very helpful stitch markers tomorrow. I missed my photo window of opportunity this afternoon.

3 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Uncategorized

Tagged Blogging

Stitch Markers for all

Posted on June 7, 2008 | 9 comments

I made this necklace for my sister, with rice pearls and Swarovski crystals.

I’ve been itching to make some decorative stitch markers. I had some leftover crystals and pearls, so I went to the bead store to buy some toggle clasps. I found some great ones in pewter, for $1.50 each. But that meant $15 for 10 stitch markers, which seemed kind of steep to me, especially since I’d only be using the circle half of the toggle clasp.

I found some sterling silver thin wire eye pins instead, $4 for a package of 20. That means $2 for my 10 stitch markers. Winner!

Do you want to make some? You’ll need some thin eye pins and beads, small pliers, and a fat knitting needle (I think mine is a US 11 or so) to help you make nice round circles. I chose the eye pins instead of the head pins, because I wanted to make sure the beads wouldn’t slip off the end. If you have beads with small holes, head pins would work fine.

Thread your beads onto the eye pin. Bend the pin to a right angle from the beads. Place your thumb under the bent part of the pin, put the fat knitting needle against the wire and wrap the wire around the knitting needle, making a circle. Twist the end of the wire around the base of the circle where the wire comes out of the pins. Wrap several times, trim if necessary, pinch down with pliers so there aren’t any ends to catch on your yarn. Easy! I watched this tutorial on making wire loops; you might find it helpful.

9/6/09: Edited to add: I made some more stitch markers, this time using flex cord. You can see the process here.

And in other news, guess who’s back?

He’s not interested in the thistle seed sock, just the black oil sunflower seeds in the feeder on the left, so everyone is getting along for now. The cat is highly amused, watching out the window. It’s Cat TV.

9 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit, the squirrel

Tagged Knit, squirrel, stitch markers

It’s all about the sox

Posted on June 3, 2008 | 7 comments

I bought these shoes about a month ago, and couldn’t decide if I liked them. Today I gave them another chance. I’m glad I did.

Yes, it’s true. I bought clear shoes for my socks. I made these socks eons ago, and don’t wear them much any more, but they went with my shirt today. If you’re going to pick socks that match your shirt, why not go all the way and let people see them?

I think they’d look even better with dark socks, but this will have to do for now. Side view, in case you just gotta know.

Josephine update: After 15 rows of Josephine in the round (that would be about 3800 stitches), I realized that I was nowhere close to making gauge. I think I knit looser in the round than flat, because my flat gauge swatch was close to correct. Ripped the whole thing out, and now I’m knitting Josephine in pieces, flat, on US size 3 needles. The pattern enticed me by recommending size 5 needles, so I bought the yarn, full of confidence. I’ve never knit an entire sweater on 3’s, except for a baby. This is going to be a long knit! But it’s really pretty.

In other fun news, I went to the Lantern Moon trunk show at Twisted on Friday. I bought this bag. I use their silk taffeta bags as project bags inside my big knitting bag, but what i really liked about this one was that it cinches closed. No lost pieces of project!