Okay, I spoke too soon

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that it rarely got very cold here - mostly 50ish. And then the last week or so, I had to eat those words. We've had freeze warnings for the last week, with temps in the mid 30s to lower 40s every night. This morning, it was still 32 degrees F at 9 am. And it moved all the way up to 37 by 11:30 am.

So, I guess the weather is changing a bit, out here. Maybe wool sweaters do have a place in SoCal. Since my apartment has no heat (badly placed wall heater, multiple open rooms), I'm sitting here wearing two wool sweaters, jeans, socks, and wrapped in a throw, and I'm still a bit cold. Now, I know all those Mid Westerners and East Coast folks are laughing at that, calling the freezing point of water cold, but cold is truly relative. 

So, I haven't finished the sweater yet, but I've made a couple of cowls, started work on some fingerless mitts, and signed up for a class on socks using the Magic Loop. I think I know how to Magic Loop, but I want to see it in person, first, not just on YouTube. I also stocked up on some socks books, and a mitts book, too.

I never thought much about "accessories" in knitting, but this cold snap has made me rethink that. I may even knit a hat!

Oh, and I will finish the sweater, soon. I only have a bit more knitting on the sleeves, and then the seaming and weaving ends in, and it's done. Yay!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah, and a sane and fun New Year. 

A Brief Update

Not much is new, although the weather has become cooler and cooler. I'm back to knitting my own design, just the sleeves to finish now. I've done 3 1/2 of the 5 increases on the sleeves. I'm knitting both of them at the same time. For me, that's the easiest way to ensure that they end up the same.

That's all, for now.

SoCal Knitting

There really isn't any real need to knit when you live in SoCal. It never really gets so cold you'd need anything other than a sweater to live comfortably here. Even sweaters should be light, since the coldest I can remember it ever being here was 32 degrees, and that was late night/early morning only. And only a few times in my 62 years of living here. Mostly, our winters here, which begin in December and sort of peter out in early Feb, run around the 50s, with dips into the high 40s at night.

So, cowls, hats, scarves, mittens, etc. have no real use, here. And yet, I really want to knit cowls and small shawls, a few scarves, and even a few hats. And fingerless mitts, too. (Those I can use, since it gets really, really cold on my hands when sitting at my computer in the winter. My computer sits in the direct path of a draft.) I love knitting sweaters, but almost always I love the big, complicated sweaters, with cowl necks or turtle necks, long sleeves -of course-, and lots of cables or complex stitch patterns. Just the sort of sweater I don't really need, living in sunny SoCal. The very first thing I ever knit was an Aran, cables front, back and on the sleeves. (I didn't know they were considered hard, so I just thought it was fun.) I wore it for years.

I get discouraged, though, limiting myself to sweaters all the time. I love knitting them, but there's no instant gratification available, and I find that as I get close to finishing my interest just dies. Like with my latest sweater. My own design, based on a stitch pattern I found in Up, Down, Around. It's been sitting in its bag for weeks, with just the last few rows of the back and the sleeves to go.

I've made myself a promise that I will not start another project until that one is completely finished ~ wearable finished, not just the knitting. And I'm finding it incredibly hard to keep that promise. I've bought new yarns, new patterns, gone through my currently owned patterns, and I keep wanting to cast on for a pretty cowl, or interesting small shawl, and even a couple of other sweaters. I have done swatches for a bunch of the yarns I have, to get an idea of what they may want to be. I haven't cast on, yet, but it's becoming more and more difficult to stick to that promise. And why don't I just pick up the sweater on my needles and finish it? I don't know. I just don't feel like it. I look at it every day and think, "I really need to finish that", but I just don't. I like the sweater, I like the yarn, and it's not a difficult project, now that I've worked out all the details (neckline, armholes, sleeve caps), but I just haven't picked it up and done it.

The last thing I knit to completion was a tank, back in July. Simple, fast, and wearable.  I tried to knit another tank top, but the pattern for it had too many problems in it, and I got too frustrated trying to solve them to even want to knit it. So then I played around and finally decided to design my own, which is now sitting in time-out, reproaching me daily for ignoring it. And the siren song of a new project is whispering in my ears daily.

May your knitting bring you joy and happiness, whether it's through the process or the product.

The Passing of a Great Yarn Website

I received some sad news a little while ago. In about a month ~ November 15, 2014, one of my favorite websites for yarn and free patterns will no longer exist. Elann.com is closing its website and brick and mortar warehouse, and moving all its yarns to Amazon.com (us, ca, and a few other Amazon sites). I absolutely hate this. Hate it!

I love Amazon. I am a Prime member. Have been for years. But I love Amazon for its books. I don't buy anything else from Amazon, for the most part. An occasional CD, or I watch a movie on the site, but it is overwhelmingly my source for books.

I'm not sure if this move means that Elann will no longer be producing their "tasting and testing" yarns. I've bought a ton of those, and I love them. They are made exclusively for Elann, and they come with a lot of information you don't find on a regular yarn tag ~ micron count, for instance. And Elann takes our feedback on these yarns to decide if they should keep or let go of these yarns. How could that work on Amazon?

When I first started buying yarn online, Elann was the only place I could find great yarn. They would send samples of the yarns coming up for the next month, so you could hold them in your hand, knit them up in small swatches. (you had to pay for a subscription for this, but it was so worth it!) You got credits for buying (knitting) books, which you could use to discount your yarn purchases. And every $500 spent there got you a $50 gift certificate. Yah, I know it's only 10%, but it was still a kick when their tally hit  the number, and you got told you now had $50 to spend on anything. They also did a random drawing, and the person who won got a gift certificate for however they'd spent during that month. I won once, and I never win anything!

 They shipped everything US Priority Mail, so the wait was never very long. They offered a chat room (pre-Ravelry) where you could drop in and chat about knitting and just about everything else (minus politics and religion, of course). Just a couple of months ago I used their "Desperately Seeking" feature to find a skein of yarn I needed for a sweater, and the person who responded actually worked there, had exactly the skein I needed, and sent it to me (from Canada to So. California) for free, just asking that I would pay it forward some day. How do I do that once their site no longer exists?

I am just so totally bummed that they are going. I am seriously going to miss them. They offered terrific discounts on yarn, had their own delicious line of yarns, offered so many perks for shopping there. I wish there was something I could do to keep them operating on their own, and not become part of the monolithic Amazon reality. With the world of knitting growing so enthusiastically, I don't understand the logic of this move. They could have raised their prices a bit if it was the economy (Is Canada's economy tanking?). Charged a bit more for shipping, because I am sure they undercharged for it. ($5 for shipping 15 skeins of wool from Canada (or Washington state, where they have/had another warehouse) to SoCal? I don't think so. Ann and Robert Cannon-Brown are terrific people, and I'm sad to see them go. I wish them all the joy and happiness in the world, while I mourn the passing of their company and website.

Yarn Culture, online yarn store

I want to tell you about a new (to me) online yarn store: Yarn Culture in Fairmont, NY. I am so impressed by them! I originally ordered 4 skeins of Artesano British Wool from them,on August 11, in Teal. I got the yarn Thursday (quick!), but I was busy around that time, and I didn't do more than open the bag and look inside. And then I was busy working on my own design (see below), so I didn't really take it out to play with it until yesterday. And I was surprised to find not Teal, but Turquoise, yarn. So, I went online to their site and told them about it.

This morning, I got an email from Mitch at Yarn Culture, apologizing for the mistake, assuring me that 4 skeins of Teal were available and were being sent at no cost to me. Not only that, they didn't want the Turquoise back. Not only that (2), he noticed I had just placed another order with them, and since that yarn was soon going on sale (50% off), he was going to refund 50% of my order. And not only that (3), he gave me a discount code to take 15% off my next order.

Wow. What a terrific response to my problem. I don't think I've ever been so well treated by a company (of any kind). Not even Webs, which has terrific customer service, too.  Just Wow.

One other thing I really liked about this company: they sent little, knittable samples of two other of their yarns with the original order. I have already fallen in love with one of them, even before knitting the sample, called Hedgehog Fibers Silk Merino Singles. It is just so incredibly soft, and it's a worsted weight yarn with 262 yards of 50% silk, 50% merino in each skein. The colors it comes in are named things like Wish (my sample) Unforgiven, Malice (I like this one too), Hush, and so on. It's $32 a skein, so I won't be buying it this month, but maybe in September, or October. I just know I have to have something made out of this yarn in my closet. It's too yummy to let go. The other sample is of Rosy Green Wool, a 100% organic merino called Cheeky Merino Joy. They sent me the color Rose Garden, a nice, gentle red. It's a fingering weight, 23 - 26 to 4", on 2.5, 3, or 4 US size needles, and each skein is 350 yards. ($24 a skein). I'll be knitting that one up later today, and I bet it will look beautiful, but I truly don't have much use for fingering yarns, although I am looking at a couple of lacy shawls or shawlettes, really, that would use this weight, so who knows? Just click on that link at the top of this post, and check out this site for yourself. Be prepared to fall in love with some really luscious yarns!

Almost done with the body of this sweater

So, it finally cooled down a little around here, after almost a full week of high 90s every day. And our days don't cool off much even after the sun has gone down, so that meant it was still @ 90 at 10, 11, or even 12 at night.

Anyway, I've just got another 5 inches, or 1,440 stitches, to go on the back of this sweater, and I'll be ready for the sleeves. I'll do those both at the same time, since I find it hard to motivate myself to do the second sleeve if I've already completed the first. And it's easier to make sure they match each other if you do them at the same time.

While I was waiting for it to cool off enough to pick up my knitting, I got another knitting book. It's Knit in New Directions by Myra Wood. She uses templates, full sized, to structure the knits, and leaves it up to you to fill the spaces of those templates with any sort of knitted material you want. It's an intriguing way of looking at knitting, much like using a sewing pattern and making up fabrics to fit the pattern parts. Once I finish this current sweater, I'm going to play around with the ideas from this book and see how it goes.

I also got a bunch of new yarn this week. From Webs, I got 5 skeins of CEY Giselle, in a greyish blue, 2 skeins of Plymouth's Juli in a dark green, and 9 skeins of CEY Mesa in a purplish beige mix. From Eat, Sleep, Knit, I picked up 2 skeins of Targhee Worsted in Tanzanite, which is a beautiful tonal deep purple. I also got one skein of Alchemy's Haiku, in Sugar Mountain. (I'm still looking for Silk Purse in the same colorway, but so far, unless I'm willing to pay $40 a skein (and I need 2), I haven't found it.

From EBay, I got 5 beautiful skeins of Noro's Lily, a cotton/silk yarn (70/30) in a multi (of course) with purple, blue, teal off-white, and tan (and maybe more!) in it. I also picked up 5 skeins of CEY's Provence in purple.  (I'm beginning to see a purple pattern in this!)

That's all for now. I should be starting the sleeves on my sweater some time tomorrow (or later today, I guess), and I truly hope to be done with the knitting part (just sleeves and neck to complete) by the end of this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

May you find joy and contentment in your knitting, whether it's in what you produce, or in how you knit.

Some progress

Well, it's been super hot this week. Up in the mid-90s even at 10 pm. (It's impossible for me to sleep when it's that hot)

But, I have made some progress. I've done about 11 1/2 inches of the back - done in stockinette. I hate stockinette. It's so bloody boring. It's not that I don't like purling. I do. I think it's fun, and it's actually easier for me than knitting. Now that I'm nearly to the armhole bind offs, I'm kind of wishing I'd put a single repeat of the stitch pattern up the middle of this sweater. Anything to relieve the boredom. I know the sleeves won't be much better, but at least they'll have the one repeat of the pattern all the way around at the beginning. Just, after that, it's all stockinette to the end. And it's all my fault. I just had to cast on to make this sweater I had in my mind, with the stitch pattern I fell in love with. I mean, it's not even close to being wearable around here, not for months. It doesn't actually get cold until usually late December or early January. It starts cooling off by October, but high 60s and low 70s are definitely not cool enough for this sweater. Oh, well. It's the process, right?

I just got another book, Botanical Knits 2, by Alana Dakos. Some of the patterns in this book coordinate with the patterns in the first Botanical Knits, which is kind of cool. And I really like a couple of the sweaters she shows, too. It's 4 sweaters an 8 accessories, like the first one. And some of the accessories are really cute or good looking (since cute doesn't really say the right thing about these knits.)

So, I'm off to continue working on the back of my sweater. It's down to only 73 degrees (It's 12:37 pm), so it's the coolest part of the day.

Hope all is well with all of you, and you're finding contentment in the process and/or the product that you're working on.

Progress, or Lack Thereof

So, I had planned to finish my new design sweater by the end of this week. So much for plans. Just before I started to bind off at the shoulders, I noticed two things. The major thing, of course, was that I apparently forgot I was doing the front, not the back. (Every pattern seems to start with the back, for some reason.) So I hadn't bound off for the neck at the right place. Then, as I took a closer look, I discovered that I had made a mistake when I bound off for the armholes. I forgot I had two selvedge sts on each side, and didn't count them in the new pattern lines. So about 8 rows in, it created a jog in the pattern that wasn't supposed to be there.

So, gritting my teeth, I ripped back to the armhole bind-offs. Turns out it's a good thing, since I thought I had bound off on one row, but I had in fact bound off on a different row.  Basically, it was a mess, and is now much better for having been ripped back and reknit. Or almost reknit. I've just completed the bind off for the neck. I still have about 4 inches to go before the front is finished. I won't be finsihing the sweater this week, unfortunately. Next week, for sure. Well, almost for sure. (It's been getting a little hotter every day around here, which makes knitting a wool sweater a bit too, umm, sweaty for me.)

Be well, stay cool, and may you find contentment in both the process and the product of your knitting.

So, I ended up working on another "my design" sweater

When Falling Leaves didn't work out, I was really disappointed. I didn't want to have to plot out a solution to the problems, I just wanted to knit.

I looked around at a lot of patterns, and eyed my stash. And, of course, decided I'd just make a sweater out of a stitch pattern I'd fallen in love with. I'm using Valley Yarn's Amherst, in what they call Soft Grape, but I call medium brown. The stitch pattern I'm using is from Up, Down, All-Around and is called "Moss Diamonds and Lozenges", p.42. It's a 44 row pattern, and each complete pattern is about 8 inches tall.

I started knitting on 7/16, and bound off for the armholes of the front on 7/18. And then had to back up a couple of times, because the bind off messed up the pattern. I finally had to write out the pattern, line by line and stitch by stitch, to see where I should start, given the different starting points caused by the armhole decreases. Not fun, but it's working out okay now. I'm about 2 rows from binding off for the shoulders. (7/20). So far, I've used a little less than 2 1/2 skeins, and I have 10.  I'm planning on doing a plain stockinette back, and sleeves, although I may use part of the pattern on those, maybe just around the cuff area. Haven't decided yet. I really like the pattern stitch, but I probably would have been better off doing a drop shoulder style. I'm small, though, so that can look overwhelming on me. I really prefer set in sleeves.

I hope to be done with this by the end of next week, July 27. Still need to work out the sleeve cap, and whether or not to use a part of the pattern stitch on the cuff area, so I may not make it, but I'm going to try.

Roadblock

I ran into a roadblock when I started knitting the Falling Leaves Shell by Rosemary Drysdale for Tahki Yarns. The pattern is totally screwed up. First, it calls for a gauge of 20 sts to 4" in Rev StSt on 6s. I get that. But then it calls for only 74 sts to be cast on for the front piece, but 86 sts for the back. So, I work through the first 7 rows of the 24 row pattern (Candleflame), and find the front piece is only just over 12" wide. Even if I was getting the same 20s=4" as she calls for for the back, it would only be 14" wide for the small, but the back would be @17". So, either the whole thing would be 31" or, more likely 29" around, for a supposed 32" bust. The picture doesn't show any negative ease, nor does the pattern make any mention of ease. Oh, and I should probably mention that I virtually always get gauge when I knit. I always have, for some strange reason. I guess I don't knit tightly or too loosely, or something.

I went to Ravelry to check the pattern, and found dozens of complaints about it, but not about this. About the difficulty of the neck decreases. Tahki put out a new chart to show the decreases needed , but apparently, many people found that the pattern wasn't centered, and the neck decreases made it look weird. I commented on the pattern page, but no one has responded yet, and probably won't, since it doesn't list Drysdale in the pattern.

And then there's the problem with this being a cropped top, not mentioned anywhere, and the fact that the yo's create a fairly large hole in the fabric which means this would have to be worn over something else, or be indecent. Not really what I think of when I think of a basic little shell. Oh, and everyone was complaining about how boxy it was, since there's no shaping in it whatsoever, not even binding off for the armholes, which looks sloppy on, especially since the pattern produces a wavy line, . And someone noted that the picture obscures this fact because the model's hair covers her shoulders and you can't see clearly that the armhole is waving, or falling in an unflattering position on the arm.

So, that pattern is in timeout. I will probably find a way to work around the weirdnesses, but not right now. I just want to knit, not do pattern surgery. And I wanted to use my Simplicity(by HiKoo), which I am in love with. I don't really use a lot of DK yarns, but this one is so round and bouncy and fun. I watched all the Fiber Factor shows, which introduced this yarn and a couple of other ones, and so many of the participants raved about it. When I found in on Ebay, I decided to see what all the raves meant. And I did. Now I have to go through all the patterns I have to see what other patterns I have that I can use it for. I only have 6 skeins, or just over 700 yards, so I have to look for something short, sleeveless or short sleeved, or.... Well, just something else. I am really disappointed, though. I loved the look of this Falling Leaves Shell, and I loved the way the yarn looked when working it. I guess I may have to just  design my own shell/tank top. Find a lace or other pattern I like from Up, Down, All-Around, and work out the math for the whole thing. But, then, I just wanted to sit and knit, not sit and plot out a pattern.

I have also been exploring yarns made by Lion Brand, Red Heart, and Loops and Threads. All tend to use a lot of acrylic, but some are just cotton, or wool & acrylic. I do tend to prefer natural yarns, but I don't really have a problem with acrylic. I think if I lived somewhere it got really cold, I wouldn't use acrylic, but here in SoCal it never really gets cold enough to need the warmth of wool. I still knit with it, and with alpaca, too, because I love the look and feel of wool. But there have been great strides in acrylics used in yarns, so I've been checking them out, 2 skeins at a time.

I first picked up a Loops and Threads DK yarn, Elegance. I really like it. It feels silky, and I like the tonal colorways it comes in. It's put up in 50g skeins, with 160 yards. And it's only $3.99! After I tried it out, working on circular 6s, I liked it so much I went back and got another 5 of the Smoky Plum I already had, and 2 more of a different pinkish one, Pink Lily. Definitely a cowl for the Pink Lily, but some kind of sweater for the Smoky Plum. When I was trying out the first Smoky Plum, I cast on to a 16" circular size 6, and I must have zoned out while casting on, because when I looked, I'd already cast on 125 sts. Like a 100 more than I generally cast on to swatch with. And then, even though circulars are fairly new to me (my former Scottish neighbor's mother taught me how to knit way, way back, and she put one long needle under her arm, and did everything else with the needle in her right hand. Now, so do I), I couldn't put it down. I knit about 10 inches of the stuff before I decided I should just measure the gauge and then decide what I would make with it. I know, I could have made a cowl out of it at that point, but I'd just done a amalgam of different stitches ~ garter, St. st, ribbing, a cable or two, and it wasn't really cowl-worthy. So, I bound it off, then measured each section for gauge, wrote it all down in my Planning book, and then frogged the whole thing.  Now I have 1120 yards of plummy goodness to use in something.

I also picked up a couple of skeins of LB's Amazing, but I haven't worked with it yet. I have to say, it feels a bit scratchy in the skein, but I'll knit a swatch with it and see how it feels then. I also picked up 2 other 2-skeins of Red Heart yarn, in their "Boutique" line, Treasure and Unforgettable. Haven't  knit with any of them, but I will have enough for cowls out of all of them. If the Amazing doesn't soften enough when knit, I can make a cover for my Kindle out of it, or a small notebook cover. Maybe both. And since I am not going to be busy knitting up the little shell I so liked, I guess I'll have time to do all the swatching on these that I could want. Oh, well. (During the day it's so bloody hot, it's hard to get excited about anything (91 degrees at 7:30 pm. Ugh!) and narrowly focusing on rewriting a pattern, or writing one up, is just hard to do in this heat.

So, that's all for now. May your knitting always be perfect, both in product and process.

Ribbed Tank finished at last!

I finished seaming the tank top this morning, got all the ends woven in, tried it on, and I like it! It hits right at the best place on my hips, it's stretchy, but it doesn't hug too tight. The only thing is I find that Microspun, for being a DK weight, gets heavy for some reason.  I wasn't expecting that, but I can live with it. And I like the pattern enough to make it again, using the Kroy Socks FX that I got for it in the first place. And maybe in some other yarns and colors. Versatile top.

In other news, I picked up a couple of new books and forgot to mention them in my last post. I really like both of them.

First up, Up, Down, All-Around Stitch Dictionary by Wendy Bernard, of Knit and Tonic blog, and the author of the Custom Knits series of books. In this new book, Wendy has taken over 150 stitch patterns, and written and charted them for knitting top down, bottom up, in the round, and on straight needles. Not every pattern gets all 4, but then many don't need it. I love the way she has thoughtfully put together groups of stitch patterns, and I love, love the fact that I don't have to deal with rewriting lace patterns to knit flat or in the round. For just that, alone, BUY THIS BOOK! (I am not getting paid or anything else for this review).

In addition to all those patterns, Wendy has also included a pattern for using one of the stitch patterns ~ a cowl, a hat, a vest, etc. Included, too, are notes on swatching ( I love her suggestion list for why you really need to swatch), and a short how-to on swapping out stitch patterns to customize your knitting. Overall, this is a terrific addition to my collection of stitch dictionaries.

The other new book is another Viking knits book by Elsebeth Lavold, Viking Knits & Ancient Ornaments. Lavold is recognized as an expert on cables, from her extensive work in Viking, as well as other early civilizations, decorative pieces. In her latest book, Lavold goes around the world to find "interlacements" or new cable details. This book has some exquisite new patterns using the new cables, but more than that, it's just a great read as Lavold recounts her travels and discoveries as she sought to find commonalities and differences in cultures around the world. I recommend this book not only for its beautiful patterns, but for a fascinating look at decorative arts throughout history and the world.

Both of these books are available on Amazon.

So, that's about all. While I think about what to knit next, I'm having fun reading Lavold's book, and browsing through Wendy's stitches.  Hope your July is going well!

The Hazards of Knitting Tired

So, I finally got back to the tank top I had started last summer, but had to frog the first attempt, in Kroy, because of a mistake I'd made early on but didn't catch until it was 16 inches behind me. Then, I cast on the same pattern in the yarn originally called for, Microspun, but put it aside after a short while, because I went back to work and it was just too incredibly hot at the time.

Now I am retired, and getting into knitting a lot more since I have the time. So, I restarted the Microspun top, finished the back, cast on for the front, got to about 8 rows above the armhole bind off, and discovered I'd dropped a stitch. (Actually, I kept dropping stitches off the ends of my needles, since Microspun is quite slippery and also easily splits, but rescued those as I went along.) Anyway, last night I decided I'd go back and catch that dropped stitch. And proved why you should never knit, or try to repair the knitting when you're too tired. Because in trying to pick up that dropped stitch, I made a mess of it. I think, but I'm not sure, that I actually created a couple of stitches while trying to pick up just one. And made an unholy mess of the whole thing.

Today, I tinked all the rows above the bind off for the arms. And discovered that where I thought I'd picked up the stitch, I had apparently knotted the yarn around one stitch. I had to cut the yarn to untangle it. And then tink back all those rows. Ouch.

So, now it's Monday, and I'm back to the beginning of the armhole decreases. It's not a huge loss, but it was really frustrating, and I'm still trying to figure out how I managed to pick up an extra stitch and knot the yarn at the same time.  Note to self: When you find yourself nodding off is not the time to repair your knitting. Just don't.

In other news, I picked up some Simplicity by HiKoo, in a sky blue, and I'm going to use it to make Falling Leaves, a tank top by Rosemary Drysdale.

 

It's only patterned on the front, which I normally don't like, but in this case, I think it's going to be fine.

 

Once I finish the ribbed tank I'm (still) working on, I'll do this one, then go back and do the ribbed tank in the Kroy socks yarn, which I used double, and loved.

 

I'm hoping to win my bid on Ebay for 15 skeins of Classic Elite's Sand. I ran across a pattern years ago that called for that yarn and I really, really wanted to knit it, but couldn't find the yarn anywhere. So, now I have to go find that pattern, which I'm sure I saved, but where??

 

I may sneak in a cowl or two before I get back to the Kroy version of the ribbed top, though. I picked up a bunch of 1-2 skeins of some rather expensive yarns a while back, and haven't done anything with them yet, so I've been cruising Ravelry for patterns for them. I especially love Annabella's Cowl by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.

 

It uses two Alchemy yarns, Silk Purse and Haiku, and those are both hard to find, and expensive. It takes two of the Silk Purse, and it runs between $27 and $34 a skein. Makes this a very expensive cowl, but the raves for it on Ravelry make me want to knit it in those yarns. And, of course, it doesn't use up any of the yarns I already have in my stash. Which I have got to start knitting from, or move to a bigger place!

Between Ebay and online yarn shops, I have collected way, way too much yarn. I don't actually need to buy anymore yarn, ever. I just need to find patterns I really want to make with what I have in my stash. Which is more yarn, I think, than one of my LYS has in stock. Yikes.

 

New Yarns and New Knitting

I got some new yarns from Elann, in their own line of A-series. First up is A-Series F03, Superwash Blue Faced Leicester wool (80%), and nylon (20%) It is indescribably soft. Fingering weight, with 407 yards in 4 oz. Next, A-Series S03, Silk and Linen (65/35%) Not as soft, but just as beautiful. It's got 756 yards to 4 oz. Both of them knit 26-29 sts/4 in. on 2s. And both are in Natural, although the Blue Faced Leicester seems to have a slightly yellow look. Anyway, they're both beautiful yarns, but as yet, I have no idea what to make with them.

I also got 2 skeins of Douceur et Soie, 70/30% baby mohair and silk, about 450 yards in something not-quite-cotton candy pink; 8 skeins Australian Merino in light purple, just over 1220 yards at 22sts/4in. on 4s. Again, no designated design;  8 skeins Plymouth's Royal Llama Silk, 60/40 fine Llama/silk, in natural, knitting at 18sts/4 in. on 8s. 

Oddly, for me, I just ordered 3 crochet patterns on Elann. I do know how to crochet, but I just haven't been interested in doing so for years and years. (I have 3 crocheted afghans from my early years). But these patterns appealed to me. They're from Sans Limites, and one is Flowing Vest

another is a bag, and the last one is a "poncho", but it has sleeves and is open in front, which truly doesn't say "poncho" to me. I'll just have to wait and see if I like crocheting enough to complete these. I'm a bit impressed with the whole Sans Limites line ~ very fashion conscious, and no granny squares!

In new knitting, I've begun work on a SweaterBabe pattern called Bohemian Scarf. It's knit in Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca Silk, in a gorgeous deep plum color. I've only knit the first pattern repeat, 12 rows, and now I have only 32 more repeats to go. But it does go rather quickly.

Maybe when I can figure out Blogger's picture problem, I will upload pictures of the yarns and patterns, and maybe even a picture of my progress on the scarf (although it doesn't look like much yet, since it's a kind of lace, and lace never looks good until it's blocked.)

A Bit of This and That

I guess the biggest news around here is that I've retired. As of Friday I am no longer teaching. I just decided I'd had it, with all the days out of class for yet another inservice on some new method or curriculum, with all the behavior problems (one student came back to our school after being strongly encouraged to leave last year, but got thrown out of his "new" school. His goal for this year? To make his teacher cry. Heh.) And our new principal, a woman, doesn't believe in suspending students for any reason, doesn't believe in removing them from the classroom for any reason, and on top of that, is a micromanager. Enough. Teaching used to be both fun and worthwhile. Not any more.

So, I'm now got lots of time to knit and read. And I'm going a bit crazy trying to figure out what I want to knit. I have so bloody many choices, and I can't make up my mind.

I was set to make the Metropolitan Knits sweater I mentioned in my last post, but decided I didn't like the Inka yarn I was planning on using for it. I ordered the yarn specified, Valley Yarns Amherst in Soft Grape, instead. But when it arrived, despite looking a touch darker than lavender on their website, the yarn was brown. A medium brown. I contacted Webs, and they shipped me a replacement order. Only it's the same medium brown as the first order. I'm just going to ship them both back and order a different color. The labels clearly state "Soft Grape" on them, but it's brown. I even had my sister-in-law look at it, and she says it's brown, too.

I've run into a hitch, however. Webs sent me an email with the shipping label when I first contacted them, but I don't have a working printer, so I have to take it somewhere and print it out. Then I have to take the package to a UPS store to send it. And, unfortunately, my knee decided I needed to stay still and avoid walking at all. I did make it to my doctor, and he sent me to my orthopedic guy, who just injected cortisone into it. (That really, really hurts!), which made it feel good for about a day, but it's back to being swollen and painful, again. Next week, I'm supposed to go back to my orthopedist, and I'm having my brother take me there, since I can't drive like this. Guess we'll see then.

So, I'm basically stuck sitting with one leg propped up, which would mean knitting would be perfect, only I can't decide what I want to knit.

Maybe I need to just start a list of all the things I want to knit, then put it in order from "most wanted" to "least wanted", and start knitting from the list.   Or is that just another way to procrastinate?

Hope this finds all of you safe and warm, dreaming of Spring.

A New Year and new projects

I've been rather lazy lately. Finished my own design, but haven't taken a pic of it yet. I'm just starting a new sweater, one from Metropolitan Knits, called the Skyline Tunic. I've got the yarn, the pattern, and somewhere around here, I've got the needles, too. I'm using a pink yarn (with purple undertones) called Inka, by Steinbach Wolle. It gets gauge, although it isn't as "hairy" as the yarn used in the original. I don't mind that. Many hairy sweaters seem to shed, and I don't need that.

I've been going through all my knitting books and magazines lately, trying to see if anything new strikes my fancy. And in the magazines, trying to see if there was anything I wanted to save from them before tossing them out. I just don't have room to keep all the knitting magazines I buy, so I've set up a notebook, and just tear out the patterns or stories I want, slip them into plastic page protectors, and file them. (Actually, I'm starting on my second notebook. The first filled up pretty fast.)

I know I will never knit all the patterns I've saved, or from the books I have, but I never know what I'll be in the mood to knit. I like having a wide variety to choose from.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll try to be more regular at blogging, but I can't make any promises.

New Yarns!

So, I haven't finished any of the sweaters I started in July. It just got too hot, and I went back to work early in August. I found that I hadn't recovered from my hospitilization as I thought. The first day back, I had to move all the student desks (2-person desks) to get them set for the start of school, and I was breathless after moving 18 of them around.

At any rate, working in my classroom sort of wore me out, and the heat didn't inspire me to knit at all.

I ordered some new yarn from Elann (I love that site!) and it got here Friday. It's all gorgeous! I got a sweater's worth of Steinbach Wolle Inka in Orchid Pink for a Ballyvaughan Pullover, 3 colors of Plymouth Yarn's Nazca Wind, 5 of Plum Tart (deep plum), and 2 each of Shale and Night Sky. I'm thinking cowls for those last two. I got 1 each of 3 colors of Elann's Silken Kydd: Forest Mist, Clove, and Raisin. I'm going to do a Pretty Thing cowl (YarnHarlot pattern)for my sister-in-law, and I'm either going to do it in the Silken Kydd Clove, or in the Baby Cashmere in Tapestry Blue, that I also got. Along with 2 other colors of it: Mulled Grape and Deepest Black. I'm sort of leaning toward the cashmere, because it is so incredibly soft, but I also love the Silken Kydd. Maybe I'll do two for her (and some for me, too!) Neither of us wear scarves, but cowls, even though they're really just scarves sewn together, seem to work for us.

It's still incredibly hot here. Right now, at 7:45, it's still 79 degrees outside, which means it's closer to 85 in here. Makes it hard to grab a bunch of yarn and sit with it in your lap or next to you. But, then, her birthday isn't until Dec. 10th, and then there's Christmas after that, so I've got time. I also need to buy some circular needles, since I don't have the size needed for the pattern.

So, that's what's up with me. Hope everyone is doing well, and knitting up a storm for those of you in the parts of the US that are welcoming Fall weather right now.

Just Another Update on my Projects

I finally frogged the ribbed tank, and the yarn is slowly working the kinks out. In the meantime, I did cast on for the fronts of my Gulls and Garter vest, and I'm up to the 2nd buttonhole, about 5 inches. I tried a new buttonhole process, doing it in one row, which is kind of neat, but the hole needs to be worked at after knitting it to make it neater and really look like a buttonhole. For this procedure, you bind off the number of stitches you need for your buttonhole, but then you cast on that number plus one on the left needle, K2tog the stitch left after binding off with the first stitch you cast on, and then continue to the end.  It's quick and easy, but I think the cast on stitches, which form the top of the buttonhole, are a little loose and sloppy looking. It said to use the backward loop method, but I may try using another cast on method to see if that makes a difference.

I've also restarted the ribbed tank, but I'm using the yarn the pattern calls for while I wait for my Kroy to straighten out. It's Microspun, a sportweight yarn made of microfiber acrylic (I have no idea what that really means), in a color called "Lily White". And yes, it really is that white. I'm about 4 1/2 inches along on that, as well.

I really need to alternate between the two. The 2/2 ribbing gets boring after a while, and the Gulls and Garter, which is a simple 4 row pattern, gets fiddly after a while. So, I switch back and forth just to break the rhythm. Is that normal? Do you keep more than one project on the needles, and active, at one time? I know one knitter who is very single-minded about her knitting, and has never had more than one project on her needles, but to me, it seems that she just has to force herself to finish each project. Not every project, but some. I don't want to force myself to knit. That would blow the whole purpose of knitting for me. It's to relax, to calm my nerves, to allow the right side of my brain to exercise a bit, and to shut down the analytical, left brain. If I'm forcing myself to knit, that means the left brain is in charge. And God knows, it's in charge too much of the time for me.

So, the beautiful Kroy is still in timeout while it unkinks, the Lily White Ribbed Tank is moving along, and Gulls and Garter vest is coming along nicely.

The Tank Tanked, but Gulls & Garter is Surging Ahead

So, I made a mistake casting on for the tank, and didn't realize it until I was about 4 inches into the armhole. I need to frog it and start over, so it's in timeout until I finish my Gulls and Garter vest.

I cast on both fronts today. 46 sts each, with 5 stitches in seed st, the rest in rib and later in the pattern. I generally don't have to use stitch markers to remember when a pattern changes, but I did today. 1/1 ribbing and seed st don't mix well, and rather than counting each stitch, I just put in markers after the seed stitches. Much easier. Ribbing is rather mindless knitting for me, and the stitch markers help that along. I really don't want to focus so intently on each stitch. I've done about one and a quarter inches of the ribbing so far, and I'm only using 2 inches, so I'll be starting the actual pattern knitting later today.

I had plans to have both tops done at least a week ago, if not 2 weeks ago. So much for plans. I got sucked up in Ravelry, loading my library there with all the patterns I have (and I'm not done yet), and looking for patterns for other yarns I have. Boy, can you waste a lot of time on Ravelry.

I also got busy in real life, reading, visiting my brother and his family, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, etc. Life happens. It's only been a month since I came home from the hospital, although it seems much longer. I couldn't visit my family until now, though, because their daughter had a bad cold, and I wasn't going to risk that. Now she's healthy, and I got to hear all about her trip to Australia, which she started the day I went into the hospital. It sounds like she had a great time, even during the service learning portion of the trip. I would have loved going on her trip instead of mine!

Anyway, that's all the news for now. Hopefully I'll finish my vest this week, and I'll try to get my sister-in-law to take pictures of me in it so I can post them here and on Ravelry. If not, I'll at least take pics of the finished item and post those.

Project Update

Okay, so I've bound off the back of my Gulls and Garter vest, and I'm at just over 10 inches on my Ribbed Shell in Kroy SocksFX. I haven't yet cast on the two fronts on the Gulls and Garter, because I'm still working out how many stitches to cast on for each. I have to account for the button bands, which will be in seed stitch, but I'm wondering if I should decrease the pattern stitches, and if so, by how much. I do want the vest to close, and the button bands will overlap, so I may not decrease the pattern stitches. The pattern does have a "multiple of .." requirement, so decreasing the stitches would cause a problem. Anyway, I'm going back-and-forth about it.

I just got a bunch of knitting books from Amazon, 4 for my Kindle, and 3 in real book format. I have to say, I think I prefer having the real book in my hands, but the Kindle ~ and I do the Kindle-on-my-PC much more often than not ~ does show the pages well. I just need a printed pattern, so I can mark it up, and I haven't figured out how to do that from my Kindle. Or even if I can.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about one of the books I got.  Knitting the Perfect Fit, by Melissa Leapman I love this book! She's got pages and pages of instructions on how to make decorative increases and decreases, how to position cables to accentuate the parts of you you want people to notice, etc. And she has 19 patterns in the book, as well. I like a majority of them, around 14 of them in facr. That seldom happens when I buy a knitting book. She's very straightforward in her instructions, and in the patterns, and she includes lots of other tips and tricks to make your knits look great. I highly recommend this book! (And no, I didn't get asked or paid to write this endoresement. I just love this book!)

I also picked up the original Stich 'n Bitch, Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick (different cover than the one I got) , Kim Hargreaves' Vintage Designs to Knit, also a different cover than mine,
 November Knits by Kate Gagnon Osbourne and Courtney Kelley, Knitting Classic Styles by Veronik Avery, and The Best of Knitscene by Lisa Shroyer. Good things in all of them, although I wasn't aware of how basic the Stitch 'n Bitch book was. Oh, well. Maybe I can use that one with my students next school year. I do a class after the regular day to teach kids how to knit, almost every year. (I didn't last year, because it was a very difficult class, and I had a lot of health issues that I was struggling to ger under control. I am definitely doing the class this next year, though.

So, no pictures of my knitting, yet, but at least you get to look at the covers of all the new books I got! I know it's not the same, really. And I do plan to take pictures of my finished objects, but that won't be for at least a week or more. Be patient!

New Project

I'm still working on that sweater of my own design, but I cast on today for another, a ribbed shell. It should be a quick knit, just 2 x 2 rib on size 8s. It's a pattern I found on Lion Brand's website, and I'm using Kroy Socks FX in Cadet Colors, doubled. (The color is darker than in this photo) I love the way this looks when it's knit in this rib. I read on Ravelry that people think this yarn is too scratchy, but I've held it up to my skin, knit up, and it's very soft. Maybe because it's doubled, and knit at a much looser gauge than it would be for socks.

Anyway, I've gotten about 3 inches of ribbing done, and I'll do another couple of inches before I quit for the night. I'll be switching off and on between this one and Gulls and Garter sweater. I just needed a break from it today. I'l be binding off the back tomorrow, and then casting on for both front pieces. I may actually have two sweaters done by the end of next week!