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The Final Product

This is the largest thing I have ever knit for myself, and I am so happy with it. It is cheerful, and the Cascade Ecological Wool is very cushy and squishy. The kitties and I are snuggling up on it night after night.

Bijouterie: Take 1

Bijouterie1a
Originally uploaded by skatfantoo

Here's my first attempt at the earrings. I think I need to practice using the wire -- I'm mushing the wire as I knit, and then trying to "fluff' it out.

Down and dirty with Christmas Knitting

I started another Slouchy Copy Cat Hat in Ultra Alpaca (although I varied the lace pattern), in a muted heathery green from my stash. I kept telling myself it would look great on Allison (sister of Rachel, whose hat I knit because she got a sweater to match), who has light blond hair and blue/green eyes.

I kept knitting and telling myself this, but I was doubting. Then today I was watching "What Not to Wear" (my guilty pleasure TV) and there was a gal with similar coloring. Heathers completely washed her out.

So I ripped out the hat and returned it to the stash for another project. But now what?

I do have a skein of the yarn in a lovely green that would be much better on Allison, but now I'm running out of time, and I'm not sure that I should give the same thing to her as I did to her sister. So I'm thinking that maybe I'll work on the Bijouterie earrings instead. They should be done in about an hour.

Ack, the last of the Christmas knitting, and I'm not sure what I want to do!!!

So, post in the comments: Should I knit the hat, or the earrings.

gift knitting resumes

I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to do it. Well the Monteagle bag lured me back (see previous post). And then I had a lot of fun with the elements of this set for my cousin:







and then this hat just kinda flew off the needles:



Yeah, I think I need to make one for me. Slouchy Copy Cat Hat in Ultra Alpaca, with some modifications to make it more beret-like.
And I caught the Bijouterie bug and ordered the wire (sorry, I think I got the last of it from the supplier), and am on the hunt for the rest of the findings.

Gift knitting left? One more Monteagle bag, and something for Allison...not sure what.

in which knitting tools are intentionally destroyed.

Circular needles are not all alike. There are wondeful, smooth as silk and raring to go needles. The Ferrari's are like these:

Yes, Addi (zooom!) turbos. Blessed be the Addis.

But let's go back to the beginning. A couple of months ago I bought several skeings of Fibranatura Flax -- three skeins in lemon, about 7 in a pretty sky blue. I decided to save the blue ones for a lacy tank top similar to the one at the top of the blog. The yellow ones I wanted to turn into market bags for Christmas gifts.

Luckily, I found someone on Ravelry who made the Monteagle Bag from Mason-Dixon 2 with just one skein. Added everything to the queue in September, having downloaded the pattern from www.masondixonknitting.com.

Then selfish knitting intervened. I've been working on the log cabin afghan, which is very, very close to being completely done (one strip to sew, ends to weave in, and final blocking!). I knitted a nice pair of socks, and a scarf to go with a hat that I knit last year.

But then I realized I do like knitting for others, just not all the time. The fact that the Inca Gold that I've ordered special from Marin Fiber Arts for a lovely cardigan has not come in yet has nothing to do with this, really! So, I started a dishcloth set for my cousin, Marie -- and it's pretty much done, except for some weaving of ends and sewing on of buttons.

I culled the queue on Ravelry (down to five projects, now that I've discovered that I can favorite something and put a keyword in to find it later), and the Monteagle was calling to me. So, last night I started.

First, I decided that it was time to use Judy's magic cast-on instead of the sew-uplater version. So, I grabbed the Boye needle set (thinking that my Knitpicks needles in the size 9 I'd need -- I'm a loose knitter -- were in use on another project, and the 20 in length is in the Boye set), put on the cables and started, then realized that I'd be better off using two circular needles at least at the beginning. I rummaged through my circular sets and found two 16 in circulars -- a Susan Bates coated set, and Plymouth wooden ones.

Ah, here's the rub of circular needles. They are all so different from each other. The Susan Bates are flexible, have a relatively easy "jump" from the cable to the needle. They are slightly sticky, and blunt-tipped. The Plymouths have a better point, but they are like molasses to move stitches over, and, to my mind, have one feature which will ban them from my hands forever, a small BULB right at the base of the needle. This is not a mistake, in like "gee, we goofed on the design." No, it's an intentional little bulb, which will impede the progress of any yarn from the cable to the needle.

Back to the Monteagle bag: I got the cast on done, knit the three rounds of stockinette, and then started with the "twisted cross stitches" which are really mock cables with extra wraps. Not a big deal, except I'm knitting flax, which has NO give, NO bounce. What you see is what you get.

The experienced knitters are now saying, "No, you didn't." Yep, I did. I put all those twisted cross stitches in flax onto the Plymouth circular needle. And everything came to a grinding halt. I could not get the stitches up over the "bump" (read -- boulder beyond any knitter's understanding). Unfortunatley, I could also not "tink" the stitches back, because I couldn't get them back over the other side.

One little thing that I forgot to mention is that the pattern I'm using will use every inch of the Fibranatura flax. There is no "excess" according to what I've read on Ravelry. I couldn't just cut off what I've knitted and start over and have enough to make a bag.

I pondered...and then it hit me. I hate this Plymouth needle. There is no way I'm gonna use it again. And it would be totally unfair to impose this needle onto some newer unsuspecting knitter who doesn't know crap and will get discouraged and think they are a bad knitter.

And so, I cut the cable. (A picture will follow.)

So, I pulled out my Knitpicks options binder, I realized that my Size 9 tips were not being used. I put a 40 inch cable on them, and am magic-looping my way, feeling virtuous and victorious over my Plymouth circulars.

And yes, it is finished:

Blocking Makes Me a Bit Dizzy

Blocking is a magical thing. The lumpy, bumpy, perhaps stiff fabric that you make is actually a lovely piece of fiber goodness after blocking.

I am now blocking the biggest thing that I have ever blocked:



Yes, Isadora was intrigued as well. I was a bit off my mark too, the fiber goodness of a whole afghan/blanket made me swoon:

a scarf just in time

Love how it came out -- and virtually "free" since it was with yarn from my stash!

a little more selfish knitting

I think my knitting mojo is returning. I'm having fun, and finishing lovely things for me. I'm puttering with yarns, and imagining projects for both me and others. But no timelines to meet!

So, without further ado, some lovely socks:



Yes, they are especially knit for me -- extra stitches to accomodate my high instep, and a favorite yarn from chasing rainbows! They are almost dry -- and ready for a fun time in December.

And another FO is blocking. It's the Inside-Outside Scarf -- free on the XRX website, and a great way to use variated yarns. There are some good extra directions on the WEBS site by Pixie that provide some helpful extra thoughts. Here's a not-so-great photo of the blocking in progress:



This is actually way better in person. If you have a couple of balls of varigated yarn in your stash, you too can have a wonderful scarf. Actually, if you have only one ball of slowly repeating varigated yarn, you can make a scarf just like mine!

The afghan is now in strips, but I have not had the space to do some blocking before I sew the strips together (my mom is visiting for the week). Photos soon.

Feline Inspection

Log Cabin 4
Originally uploaded by skatfantoo

The selfish knitting continues. I did fall off the wagon a bit by making a couple of pairs of mittens for Afghans for Afghans, but I'm now back to completing my own afghan -- the first I've done for myself since forever.

The kitties did their inspection of all the log cabin squares last night, and approved the layout. I've now put together two strips of 4 squares, with three more to go. Trying to decide if blocking the strips is the best way, or wait 'til the whole thing is done.

Hey Congress: Where's my yarn bailout?

Since all parts of the financial industry seems to be finding a way to get all the money that they can possibly squeeze out of the Federal Government, and now the auto industry is not far behind, I think that my knitting personal bailout should have priority and receive special treatment from FiberFannie Mae, the loan fiber-consolidation experts.

Seriously, if people who managed to squander other peoples' money in buying a house by simply having stated their incomes on a form without any documentation whatsoever, then I freely confess the following:

1. I have bought yarn without showing any ability to pay the credit card bills within the year. My LYS (aka "my dealer") freely pushed onto me fibers and yarns with words like "silk","hand-painted" and "handspun" knowing that my ability to refuse such fibers was impaired. I was sucked into the vortex of "doesn't it feel great!"

2. The spirial soon started. I bought yarns, tools, and patterns, and began to haunt online websites like Knitty to feed the illusion that I would actually knit all the yarn that I was buying. The stash bubble began to grow.

3. My transformation into a fiber victim was twisted yet higher by the introduction of the truly seductive and seemingly innocuous website called Ravelry. Oh, yes, Jess and Casey profess to be community-minded small business owners running a start-up, but have you noticed that their mascot, Bob, never smiles? Yeah, he's the brains behind the whole operation. They provide the ability to check out patterns and ways to use any yarn in your stash, so I bought more and more yarn with the thought "I'll figure out how to use this on Ravelry." Any reason not to buy yarn was effectively and efficiently eliminated. Yarn piled higher and higher. Who needs a mortgage when one is buying yarn?

4. Since September 15th, the value of my stash has declined by over 50 percent, meaning that my fiber 401k is now in the tank. I hear from fiberconomists that it is because my sister knitters have also bought yarn that they have told me that they could not afford and do not intend to use until at least retirement. This "fiber bubble" has now burst and we spend our evenings touching Kidsilk Haze and crying, "Why, why!!!" Soon, the fiber eviction notices will come, our yarn will be sold at auction to unworthy knitters who will be taking advantage of our circumstances and we will be reduced to acrylic "pound-plus" yarn from Big-Box stores. Our knitting community will wither and die, and friends and family will be asking us to go get anti-depressants. It will not be pretty.

I therefore plead with our elected Representatives Truly, the only solution is in a yarn bailout. I need it now, but can you ask FiberFannie Mae wait 'til I finish my UFO?

more than a bit of partying

So, it was me and the cats on watching TV and surfing sites like FiveThirtyEight.com and Daily Kos ("R" friends -- don't say I didn't warn you), and flipping between CNN, MSNBC, and yes, even FOX news. Yes, I yelled when Brit Hume had to admit that Obama won.

Needless to say, there was more than a bit of partying. Alcohol was imbibed, family members were called and screamed to. Even the cats got overcome by the fiber fumes:




Yes, Brandy was a little overwhelmed by the news.


We are recovering today. But I'll always have this for a memory of this time:

election nerves and garter stitch

I can't wait for the election. I check fivethirtyeight.com about 5 times a day (see right for my widget). It pleases me to see my candidate have a 90-percent plus chance of winning.

Yet, I'm still anxious and nervous. The last two elections have made me a bit paranoid.

So, thank goodness for garter stitch. You can watch TV with garter stitch, and since I've knit for more than 30 year, so I don't even need to watch my hands all the time. In the last two weeks, I've knit these:



I finished the one unfinished square in the middle row and there's one more completed since the photo. Given my excitement, there's no telling how many will be done on election day.

in which I engage in more selfish knitting

I'm back into knitting for me again, so I'm "back on the wagon."

See, here are some socks that I'm working on:



Yes, wild crazy colors, and so fun for the feet.

and I've started on a big project for me - a log cabin afghan. I'm estimating that I'll do 20 squares so that it ends up being about 42" by 52". A nice mindless knit that will use up worsted scraps! Fortunately, Isadora approves:



And I had this totally interesting thing happen:



What? You say that you can't see anything? Let's take a closer look:



They look different sizes, but they are not. The sock on the left was caught at the bottom of the laundry bin, and then was washed by hand with other socks with shampoo (the cheap Trader Joe's stuff. The sock on the right was put into the washing machine and dryer -- it's Regia, it can handle it.

The left sock is relaxed and happy, the fibers are soft and pliable. It feels nice. The sock on the right is tighter (the result of the dryer, my guess) and a little scratchier. Not hopeless or unwearable, but there is a difference. Quite a difference!

pretty shiny stuff

A few weeks ago, a couple of friends and I went to SF to the opening of a cute little store in the Sunset area. It was totally jammed, so we went to Artfibers (I don't think either of them had been there before). Peaceful, and very lovely stuff.

I kept ooohing and aaahing over things, to the point that I was probably going to walk out. While I love the yarns, the colors aren't to my liking, and I don't have the dying skills at this point to try something out.

But I did get some Patois - a lovely alpaca, silk and nylon tape that is sewn down the middle. A whole cone of it, and I'm hoping that it's enough for a scarf and a hat (it should be).

Then I found a free Annie Modesitt pattern called Netty, a cowl pattern, but one that is knit side-by-side, so it easily translates into a scarf. And see what I've got with about 20 minutes work?




This is fun!

can't stop

Ok, after that big speech about being a less selfish knitter, what am I working on? A sock for Socks for Soldiers. In my defense, I am headed on a quick trip, so a sock makes sense. But yeah, I've got a long way to go...

FO - Finally!

Yep, the Ariann is done -- and it's really nice.


Feline inspection went well too!

one alpaca, two alpacas

The real fiber news today is the trip to Brookfarm Alpacas in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County. My cousin lives in nearby Santa Rosa, so we went out for lunch to a lovely Indian/Nepalese restaurant in Jack London Village (not to be confused with Jack London Square in Oakland, CA), and then went up to see the Alpacas who are very cute:




This is Libby, who was less shy than her mates:



And this guy was a comic:



There were fleeces of all colors (natural) and roving, as well as yarn from the national Alpaca co-op, and locally produced fiber.


I bought yarn from Vicki of Alpaca Shire, which is local fiber spun in southern California, and then she kool aid dyed it yellow and aqua:



On the knitting for others front, here's the update: This sweater, I am happy to say, is completely finished:



and was a fun knit. I stumbled into using good color theory on the sweater, and I like the outcome.

The other sweater, the Ariann, had yet one more trial. At Knit Night, as I thought I was finishing the collar, Lisa helpfully pointed out that the bands were unfinished. With a sinking heart, I looked at the pattern, and yes, I was supposed to have included the button-band stitches in the collar. So, another frogged piece (but this time, fortunately it is garter stitch!), and I reknit it, sewed the small seams under the arms, wove in the ends, soaked it, spun it in the washing machine, and now it is blocking. Only buttons to sew on!

a less selfless knitter

I love knitting, and I love knitting sweaters. But I am at a weary point. Taking stock, I see why. I've knit two sweaters for Afghans for Afghans -- a top-down raglan Cardigan for the Ravelympics, and a bottom-up Elizabeth Zimmermann percentage sweater. Plus two pairs of socks and a pair of mittens.

I am almost done with the much-frogged Ariann Sweater for my little cousin -- only the collar to finish in garter stitch, weaving in ends, sewing on buttons and blocking. I'm doing another percentage sweater for A4A and almost at the point where you do some short rows at the neck before the neck ribbing. That's two sweaters more than 90 percent done.

And then I realized: I am tired of knitting for others. I haven't knit for myself since (quickly checking Ravelry) July 1st (not counting the pair of mittens I knit, since it hasn't been cold enough to wear them). I am weary of all this "big project" knitting" as well. Next-up: a couple of smaller, selfish projects.

I think I'll get the sweaters done soon -- I'd like to, and I need to finish one of them by the middle of October to mail.

Knitting Time-Out

The progress on the wonderful Ariann -- nada...oh yes, those who were at the Drinks Night on Saturday saw me further ahead than I had been. I was feeling pretty good there, and I was happily optimistic about finishing the sweater this week.

Then I had a teensy-wheensy problem with the next set of decreases. Exact same dyslexia problem of reading the pattern wrong, but this time I figured out the problem with just 1 1/2 inches knit. Frogged it, and knit back. I went further on to the neckline decreases, and noticed a small problem -- the stitches on each side of the front were off. I counted, not one, two or three stitches off -- seven stitches off. Yep, more than an inch.

With dread in my heart, I looked further down, and realized that the fronts were all off. The decreases in the lace pattern, which should match, did not match at all. And so it repeated, like the plagues that that long ago Egyptian Pharaoh had to endure -- a river of frogs all the way back to the armholes.

I am putting the sweater in time-out. Clearly this is not working the way that I need it to. I need to get all OCD and count all the stitches where the sweater is now and be sure that I count every other @#$#@ row. But this is not the time.

In better news, I finished the socks I've been working for for Afghans for Afghans:



And if you have any knitting time at all the youth campaign is in need of your knitting, if you can do something by the middle of October!

Me, I started a new sweater for this project, and it is a relief to be working in the Elizabeth Zimmermann world: