Tag Archives: Knit

You can’t make me knit socks…

Posted on June 29, 2008 | 4 comments

but I seem to have knit a lot of them.

One of the cool things about living in Portland is having Powell’s City of Books right here. It’s the largest used and new bookstore in the United States, covering a full city block. The kids and I went there yesterday to sell several years’ accumulation of excess bookage. We came out with $190. Only $42 of it was mine. I restrained myself in the very well-stocked knitting section, and bought one book. It’s Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch.

I still don’t consider myself a sock knitter, but I seem to have knit a lot of socks, and designed some, too! So I thought I’d learn about some alternate construction techniques. I really want to try a toe-up sock with a heel stitch flap *under* the heel, because that’s where my socks wear out. But you can’t make me give up my dpns. No magic loop or two circulars for me; I’m big on that knitting with sticks, Little House on the Prairie experience.

My other favorite sock book is Folk Socks by Nancy Bush. I love all the heel and toe options and explanations, along with the beautiful patterns.

I won’t tell you how many other sock books I have. Because I’m not a sock knitter. Really.

4 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, socks

Knit haiku

Posted on June 27, 2008 | 1 comment

I wrote a haiku the other day. I’m not really in the habit of doing so, but Dee at Cooking with Dee is having a haiku event, and I wanted to send her something.

Knitting in sunshine
Pink yarn on smooth black needles
Poetry in lace

I made some more stitch markers yesterday. They’re pretty, but not as fun as the first batch. I think the difference is that it’s just the one bead, and that wasn’t as much fun as picking several beads for a marker. It was more of a job than a creative activity. But here they are, anyway:

Pianists, note that this picture is on the back of a Schirmer book. The previous markers were on Henle blue; I thought I’d continue the theme! Henle is my favorite urtext edition.

I’m going to a piano party on Sunday, so I’ve started playing again. Nothing like a deadline to get me on the bench. At this point in my piano life, I’m not practicing enough to learn something new, so I thought I’d try to resurrect some old repertoire. I have several pieces that are easily revived, but I’m reaching further back and trying to re-learn some other things, notably the andante from Mozart’s G major Sonata K. 283 (I used to play the allegro, too, but that’s an ambitions resurrection right now), and Beethoven’s G major Sonata Op. 49. No. 2. Neither one will be ready for Sunday. I’m enjoying it, anyway.

1 Comment

Posted in Knit, music, piano

Tagged haiku, Knit, piano, stitch markers

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

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

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

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

Shetland Shawls, show and tell

Posted on May 27, 2008 | 5 comments

Show and tell!

Here are the two Shetland Shawls, side by side. Smaller needle version is on the left; larger needle version on the right:

Closeup of small version (Shetland I)

And Shetland II:

Which do you like better? I like the look of the smaller one, and the airy gossamer feel of the bigger one. I keep changing my mind, though. They both make me really happy, and I hope the gift recipient likes hers!

5 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, shawl, shetland shawl

Brown is beautiful

Posted on May 25, 2008 | 2 comments

All of my yarn pictures are brown today! I’m sending this spiral rib cap to a friend, and I needed a picture of it to go with its pattern before I send it. The hat is the loveliest, softest cotton blend: Classic Elite Premier, 50% pima cotton, 50% tencel. I think it will make a great chemo cap because of its softness, or just a great knocking around cap.

It looks like it’s flared at the brim, but really it’s not. It’s a head-hugging cap. I hope she likes it.

My mailbox had a surprise in it yesterday: handspun yarn from Melissa at Days of Tea and Knitting. It’s beautiful! Thanks, Melissa. I’m waiting for the yarn to tell me what it wants to be, besides gorgeous out by the bamboo. The first picture is a little more true to the color.

I bound off Shetland Triangle 2 last night. I remembered to take measurements this time. Unblocked, it’s 39″ wide by 19″ tall. It’s on the blocking wires now, and it’s 70″ wide by 35″ tall. That’s a lot of stretch! Here are the details for this shawl:

Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark, from Interweave Knits’ Wrap Style.

Size 7 26″ circular Lantern Moon Ebony needle
One and a third? skeins of Silver, Silk, and Superwash Merino Sock Yarn from Painted Skeins (skein is 100 grams, 420 yards). Twelve repeats of the body section, versus 8 in the pattern. I left off the last two rows of the edging to make the edge less pointy (thanks again, BrooklynTweed) and I cast off knit-wise on the wrong side to counteract stockinette’s tendency to roll. I used a size 9 needle as the working needle to cast off.

Summary: Like my first shetland triangle, but one more repeat of the body section, and needles one size bigger. The first shawl is 54″ wide and 26″ tall. The extra repeat and the bigger needles made a big difference. I may reblock the first one to see if I can make it a little bigger and lacier, but I’ll have to wait until the blocking board is free.

Just to keep with the brown theme, I should let you know that this colorway is Brick on Brown. And it’s gorgeous. Picture will have to wait until it’s off the multi-colored beach towel. Don’t want to mess with the brown theme!

2 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged blocking, chemo cap, Knit, knitalong, lace, shawl, shetland triangle, yarn

Flirting, not cheating

Posted on May 22, 2008 | 7 comments

It’s not really cheating, is it? I bought yarn yesterday at Close Knit for my next project, the Josephine top from last summer’s Interweave Knits. I bought the same yarn called for in the pattern, which I hardly ever do. It’s Karabella Vintage Cotton, a DK weight mercerized (shiny) cotton and it’s the color of raspberry sorbet. Yum. Today I bought some new Lantern Moon ebony circulars in smaller sizes for this project. But I haven’t cast on, so it’s not cheating. Yet.

In fact, I was very diligent last night, and did a lot of knitting on the second Shetland Triangle Shawl. So much knitting, that all I have left to do is bind off.

I’m still working on washcloth samples, too. So there. I want to give a couple away with nice soap as thank you gifts, but I think I’d better wait until I can photograph them all together first. The lighting will be the same for all the pictures; always a good thing. So on I knit. But these don’t have to be done before I cast on the Josephine. I try to have a mindless and a mindful project on the needles, and these will be my two. After I bind off the shawl. Really.

Now *this* is cheating! Yesterday I bought a baffle for my bird feeder pole, to keep the squirrel off. This morning I looked out the window and saw this.