Tag Archives: Knit

Back to normal, and a contest

Posted on August 8, 2008 | 35 comments

On double pointed needles and enjoying every round. All is well. I’m actually a lot further than in this picture; there was some good dvd knitting time last night, and coffee with the crafty moms this morning. I’m down to the first elbow and need to decide how long the sleeves really want to be.

I passed 50 posts and 15,000 page views this week, and I’m having a contest to celebrate! I started this blog in March as a way to give my patterns a stable home on the ‘net and to keep track of my knitting, and it’s been way more fun than I expected. I hope you’re enjoying it, too. I know, most bloggers wait until their blogoversary, or their 100th post, but I’m happy NOW.

The contest? Leave a comment on this post and tell me how you found my knitting blog, and if you’re a repeat/regular visitor, what keeps you coming back?

The prize? This sweet book, Knitalong, Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together, by Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown. It’s by a local Portland knitter, and I believe she threw the first pitch at the Seattle Mariners game last night! Sorry I missed it.

Contest closes on August 20. I’ll choose a winner at random. Make sure you leave info on how to contact you, either your Ravelry name, or a hyperlink to your blog, or email, or….

35 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged contest, february lady, Knit

In which I learn a new technique

Posted on August 6, 2008 | 10 comments

And reject it out of hand.

I finished the body of the February Lady sweater, and it’s lovely. I’ve been knitting with Lantern Moon ebony circular needles, my favorite. I thought I’d try magic loop for the sleeves so I could continue using the same needles. I found some tutorials on the web and tried it. I’ve knit eight rounds of sleeve so far. I DON’T LIKE IT. There’s too much time spent dilly-dallying with scooting stitches around on the cable every half a round. Feh.

There she is, sitting on the hammock, looking like some kind of crazed Mickey Mouse. See the loopy ears?

I briefly considered using two circulars (I have 26 and 40 inch cables), but that also involves the scoot. I knit fast enough that the half round comes around way to soon. No thanks.

So it’s back to the double points. My dpns are Brittany Birch. I do love these, too, especially the skinny ones for socks, because they’re so “grippy,” but I wonder if that grippiness will change my gauge? The ebony needles have been so smooth; the stitches slide right along. On the other hand, my gauge working in the round on the sleeve may be different than my gauge working flat on the body, anyway. I guess I should just go for it.

Option three is to buy ebony dpns! That would be extravagant on my part, since I do have workable options already…

10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Brittany, february lady, Knit, lantern moon

February in August

Posted on August 1, 2008 | 6 comments

Now that Josephine is done, my knitterly attention has turned back to the February Lady. This Dream in Color yarn is so lovely to work with, and it smells good, too. A multi-media experience! I put the sweater on a 40 inch needle this morning, and tried it on. It’s beautiful, feels great, and it fits! The fronts *will* overlap, due to my adding 5 stitches to each side so that they’re wider than the back. I just need to decide how long to make the lace section; it’s at my waist now. Here’s the obligatory progress picture, but not on me. I fail at taking my own picture in the mirror.

I’ve been enjoying seeing all the finished Lady sweaters on Ravelry. It’s great to see how people have made this pattern work for them. There’s lots of variation! I’m in the knitalong group there, too. I’ll miss the KAL group at Twisted this week; I’m hosting the pinot and piano event this evening.

I love this shirt Sharon gave me.

Thank you, Sharon!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged february lady, Knit, ravelry

Josephine!

Posted on July 29, 2008 | 12 comments

I don’t know why I let her languish for three weeks, unseamed. I think I was afraid she wouldn’t fit. And I didn’t want to know that.

Last week, I pinned it together and realized that it would be fine. I started the seam and then got sidetracked by the toe-up sock. So many projects, so little time!

Last night, I finished seaming. It didn’t take long. And voila! C’est Josephine! It’s very comfortable to wear. Kids were still asleep when I left the house, so no action shots. Maybe tomorrow. But here’s a detail of the neckline. I love the rolled reverse stockinette edging.

The same edging is on the seed stitch sleeve. (And this picture below is pretty close to the actual color.)

The little cord tie is sweet. I laughed out loud when I read the instructions: “Cast on 300 stitches. Bind off all stitches.”

Details:

Josephine Top, Summer Interweave Knits, 2007

Karabella Vintage Cotton, 6 balls for smallest size

Started: May 22, 2008 Finished July 29, 2008

Mods: I made it shorter, adjusted so the ribbon goes *under* the bust, and raised the deep V neckline so I wouldn’t have to layer over another garment. Skipped the rolled reverse stockinette edging on the hem; the cable cast on is a nice edging in itself.

I’m happy with how this turned out. I didn’t love working with the yarn; it has a lot of spin and kept twisting back on itself while I was knitting. The knitting also biased, partly due to the twist, and partly as a function of the lace pattern, I think, but steam blocking took care of it.

Happy dance!

ETA:

12 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Josephine Top, Knit

Fifteen seconds of fame

Posted on July 27, 2008 | 9 comments

My blog is mentioned in the local newspaper’s online knitting blog today!

Backstory: Last fall, I went to our local high school’s fund raising auction. I purchased five messages on the readerboard. After wishing Kid2 a happy birthday last winter, I couldn’t think of anything else to put up. So I finally did this:

Several friends told me that they saw the sign, but I guess it got more attention than I thought!

9 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit

Tagged Knit

A heel is turned

Posted on July 25, 2008 | 5 comments

There’s been some progress on the toe-up sock:

I turned the heel!

It’s exactly the way I wanted it, heel stitch on the bottom of the heel instead of the back. I mostly wear clogs, and the back of the heel doesn’t need reinforcement. I adapted the heel turn from Wendy Johnson’s sport weight toe-up sock pattern; it took a little stitch juggling to figure out where to start/stop the heel stitch and make it look right (centered). It didn’t help that I was using a different number of stitches.

The foot is a perfect fit! It’s very comfortable.

I was getting a bit frustrated with the heel turn last night because of the heel stitch. I considered abandoning the whole thing in a fit of pique. This morning it went fine. Not sure if I can exactly duplicate it on sock two. Will there be a sock two? Or was this merely an academic exercise?

I still can’t decide if I like this method any better than the cuff-down method, but it’s a good thing to have in my bag of tricks. And the toe that started it all still looks great!

5 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged heel turn, Knit, toe up sock

Judy’s Magic Cast On

Posted on July 22, 2008 | 7 comments

It’s magic! It makes a beautiful toe, no provisional junk to deal with. I’m making a practice sock with some Louet Gems that I had on hand.

The stitch pattern is “oblique openwork” from Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Knitted Socks. I haven’t decided what kind of heel to use yet; I think I want a heel flap with heel stitch on the bottom of the heel, because that’s where I tend to get holes. I’d adapt Wendy Johnson’s gusset heel for that. But I could make this sock into a total learning experience, and learn to do a short row heel. We’ll see.

Here are close-ups of the toe:

So far, I like the sock, but I’m not absolutely sold on toe-up. I can see using it if I had a limited amount of very special yarn, and wanted to maximize the length of my socks. But I find it a little discombobulating to be working the stitch pattern on just the instep, and stockinette on the sole, when I’m just learning the stitch pattern. It’s easier for me to learn it if it goes around, and around, and around the leg.

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged judy's magic cast on, Knit, sock

Third time’s a charm

Posted on July 21, 2008 | 6 comments

I hope.

The February Lady. I made the baby version, eons ago; I know how it’s done. Simple, no?

No. The first time was my own fault. I fell in love with another yarn, so Lady 1 was frogged and Lady 2 begun.

Saturday, my less than charming third button-hole finally got to me, so I took it off the needles to frog back to re-do it. While it was off the needles, I tried it on. Uh-oh. (Good thing there’s no picture.) The fronts barely met up. And that makes sense; there are the same number of stitches in the front as in the back. Same width, no overlap.

So I frogged THE WHOLE THING. Good thing I like working with this yarn, even though it’s making my hands turn blue. I added 5 stitches to each front, which gives me an inch to overlap. And I redid the buttonholes, moving them a stitch further in and worked from the right side instead of the wrong side, because the side I was working looked way better than the back side. I also continued the raglan decreases further instead of doing the eyelet row. After knitting like a madwoman Saturday and Sunday, I’m almost back to where I was Saturday morning. I’ve divided for the armholes again, and am cruising on the lace. I tried it on this morning (Monday) and it fits perfectly.

Still can’t capture the red, purple, and green in a picture; you’ll have to take my word for it!

I can’t seem to knit a sweater as written. There are always modifications that I want, but it’s hard to tell what they are until I have something tangible to work with. Smaller items don’t give me this problem (hats, socks), but the big stuff is more of an investment, and I want it to be PERFECT.

6 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged february lady, Knit

Still not really a sock knitter…

Posted on July 18, 2008 | 6 comments

But last Wednesday Michelle showed me Judy’s Magic Cast On, so I can try toe-up socks. This cast on was just featured by Cat Bordhi (sock goddess) in Knitter’s magazine. Judy is a fellow PDX Knit Blogger, and she’s becoming very famous!

Later that evening, I bought some gorgeous sock yarn from Lorajean. She brought it to knit nite, looking for input on new labels. This won’t be the new label, but I love the new yarn!

There’s a blue undertone to the whole colorway, even in the pink and purple. And you know how I love blue.

I guess I’ll be knitting some socks, soon!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, knit socks, sock yarn

Everything’s coming up roses!

Posted on July 17, 2008 | 7 comments

Last week, Cathy showed me Nicky Epstein’s book, Knitted Flowers. What a beautiful book! I’m not one for a lot of adornment, but I had to make some of these, just to see what they were like. I plundered the scrap stash in search of flower-colored yarn.

The first one I knit was the cabbage rose. This one is made with Tahki Cotton Classic on a US 5 needle. It’s done with a small number of stitches cast on, and then a series of increases, which made it pretty tight on the needle by the time the knitting was done. Leaves were made on a US 7.

The second was the American Beauty rose, also in Cotton Classic. The leaves are from the cabbage rose pattern, though. This one is made with a larger cast on, and a series of decreases.

I made an American Beauty rose in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece on a US 7 needle.

And this one, my favorite, the American Beauty rose bud.

The flowers didn’t take long to make, and they weren’t too fiddly, either. It was a fun project, and I’m looking forward to making more flowers and leaves. There are a lot more flowers in the book; I just chose two that looked simple, so I could sample!

7 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, knit flowers