AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

c'est fini!

Last week was a pretty productive knitting week for me.  I finished (including those pesky ends to weave in and blocking).

The first thing I finished was Convertible. 

Convertible was a pretty easy knit, not really worth the piquant rating.  Every wrong side row is purled, so it is pretty easy to keep track of the patterned rows.  I didn't make any modifications other than yarn.  The yarn I used (Unger Angelspun) is a mohair blend. 

More specifics?

Skeins needed: Just under 3

Time to knit: Just under a month (April 28-May 22).  It was taking me about two hours a repeat (from buttonhole to buttonhole).  Each repeat felt like it was taking forever after the novelty of the lace pattern wore off, so I'm glad it is done. I'm pretty sure I'll make another one at some point, though I want to make it in the bamboo yarn it called for.  I haven't seen it on the Blue Moon site though.  Did they stop making it (the pattern is about two years old)?

Oh, and completely needed to take a picture of this in my gym clothes.  I promise that they're clean!

For amanda j: button picture?

Vintage mother of pearl buttons.  They really play well off of the colors in the yarn, which was what I was looking for.  Something timeless.

There were other buttons I could have used, but they were hugely oblong bulky shank buttons.  Fine for another project, but not for lace.

making progress?

I'll get the boring part out of the way.  Fundraising is hard!  I'm hoping to get to $1000 by Friday, May 9th, so if have an extra $5-10 available, please consider donating it to the CCFA.  My donation page is at: http://www.active.com/donate/napa08newengland/seannalobue.  'Kay?  Thanks!

Onto more interesting things for everybody else. 

I gave J- her shrug (which I've been calling the muppet) last week, but I wasn't done the knitting for her.  She wanted something lacy for her niece.  I have been using this Angelspun by Unger (a mohair/acryllic/nylon blend), and it has turned out to be a lot more interesting to work with and less problematic than the muppet yarn.  Truly a wonderful turn of events.  Of course, I was trying to get Convertible done for this week, and I'm still a fair bit off.  I did my normal mathimation and if I keep up the same minute per row rate, then I have about 26 hours of work left.  I was supposed to do nothing but run and knit last weekend, and while the weather cooperated for knitting (I didn't go running in the rain) I caught a cold.  I did a tiny amount of knitting, but at this point I feel like I am days behind.  I'm trying to decide how much sleep I can give up and get it done this week without compromising my health!

But pictures, everyone loves pictures! 

I am on repeat 5 of the pattern (each repeat is actually two lace repeats).  I might be able to cut down the time it takes if I can spray block it overnight sometime this week just to see how big a blocking will make it.  The pattern is only meant to be about the length of your wingspan, so theoretically if she had gorilla arms I'd want to knit it longer.  I have some yarn in my stash that will probably work to make one of these for myself when I'm done.

The pattern at this point is mostly mindless (just hard enough that I really don't want to get distracted and forget what I'm doing).  I made a mistake this morning that took me 15 minutes to figure out.  Thankfully the lace pattern is really easy to fudge.  All in all the pattern is pretty forgiving.  I'm pretty sure that it would be dead easy to alter this pattern to use your favorite lace pattern instead.  If your lace pattern produced a wavy edge, then you would want to graft it in the middle, but that's pretty minor.  It is basically a stole with a border on each side and buttonholes every so many rows.

Closeup of the stitch pattern?  Sure.
I'm pretty sure that this would work with nearly any fingering to lace weight, though given that it originally took two skeins of a sockweight bamboo yarn (has anyone seen this yarn by Blue Moon?  I didn't see it listed on their site, and it would be nice to try out.  I love to use bamboo yarn (and for that matter finer weight yarns in general).

Of course, it is not helping my progress that I picked up the latest Interweave Crochet over the weekend when I decided I needed decent coffee.  I have gone through some of my smaller skeins of yarn to see what I could make, and really want to try and make the spiral hat.  I'm really a crochet beginner for all that I used to do a lot more crochet than knitting, so it looks like a good pattern to get in the practice of, well, following a pattern. 

I unsurprisingly want to make the Chinese Yoke Top and the Butterscotch Cardigan.  I'm definitely not skilled enough to make the former, and don't have 8 skeins of matching sock weight yarn to make the former.  I keep trying to figure out what the most affordable sock yarn would be to make these, an exercise that at least will keep the project in mind for the next couple of weeks while I try to finish Convertible and a couple other projects on my list (it's getting warm, so the Frog Camisole is probably the next thing I'll finish after this).

not just muppets

I received Tweed earlier this week from Alison!  This book is just a wonderful addition to my knitting library!  I'll probably post more about it tomorrow, because I don't have it with me and want to make sure I get all of the pattern names correct.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm just not a big history person.  It's probably the really boring videos I had to watch in grade school on the Micmac Indians that finally did me in, but I enjoy very specific subjects within history.  History of Japan (especially the Heian period and the Meiji era) and history of science.  And now, apparently, the history of yarn.  It really shouldn't be that surprising, given that yarn is a subject in general that I find intensely interesting as a knitter!  So, I'm still mostly enjoying the history of the yarn and the fabric and haven't really done more than look at the patterns enough to make a laundry list of "want to makes." 

Whew! 

Of course, while I ruminate on that book and its delicious possibilities, I happily gave the muppet to its recipient today.  She plans to give it to an elderly relative for Mother's Day (said recipient is at least 80 from conversations).  I got to show her how I was progressing on Convertible.  I'm three repeats in, and it is turning out into quite a speedy little knit.  I think she wants it by early next week, so I will literally be doing nothing but running and knitting all weekend long!  But it's all for a good cause!  Hopefully I'll have a picture after we get our camera back.  I can't subject anyone else to another really poor camera phone photo (though maybe I can try an outdoor camera phone photo?). 

knitting muppets

I apologize for the picture.  Our camera is over at a friend's house, so I had to resort to the camera phone.  While it is normally better than this, the room doesn't have the best lighting for this kind of thing. 

This is the Elegant (or was it Evening) shrug that I knit up for one of the lovely ladies at the chocolate shop.  I am going to bring it by tomorrow, and she'll be able to give it as a gift this weekend.  I cut it very close to the line on this one, because the short rows (combined with picking up stitches in a hard to see knit) was giving me the heebie jeebies. 

This shrug feels a little oversized.  I made the medium, but if I were making this for myself I would probably make the small.  I will probably make this for myself someday soon.  I have about half a monster skein of Oak Grove yarn left from the Ruffled Capelet I made a couple of years ago.  I think this would look pretty snazzy in a nice simple dark yarn (probably a rich brown) with the collar being a showpiece of yarn and color. 

I hope that she likes this (and that the recipient likes it when she gets it).  I've already started Convertible, and am just through the first lace pattern repeat (only 33 more lace repeats to go!).

Counting the hours in the day

I really want to go to the Yarn Harlot's signing at Webs.  I want hang out with other knitting folks (something I haven't really done in far too long), look at gorgeous yarn, read a new book, re-meet the Harlot, and have an excuse to start something new or at least put aside the large muppet shrug I've been working on.  However, I don't drive.  I'm pretty happy about the not driving thing, though it makes things like this a bit more problematic.  I'm happy to pay gas and tolls to get there, but that was a level of preplanning on my part that just didn't happen.

Why?

Because I'm working on the muppet shrug.  I haven't managed to work on it every night this week, but fairly close.  I have about 10 more short rows to do and then 5 rows of ribbing and binding off.  Sixteen rows shouldn't take too long, and if I am dedicated Saturday night then I could probably finish it and block it that night or Sunday morning.  For the record, I did about 2.6 rows over my lunch break today, meaning each row is probably taking me about 15 minutes. 

So, instead of going to see knitter peeps, I will be eating a giant pixie stick(s) and working on Convertible.  At least as soon as I have finished the muppet shrug!

Collars

I think I finally need to admit to myself that I dislike making collars.  Picking up stitches and working back and forth in long short rows must be trying to my patience or something, because not only have I not finished what I've been referring to as the muppet I haven't finished the Fiery Bolero for much the same reason.  Worse, because I feel guilty about it, I'm putting off most of my knitting as if working on a project  or section of a project I enjoy more is a terrible thing with the collar left to do.

It's just sad.  Knitting is a fun activity and doesn't deserve my cringing away from it.  I mean, there is no point at all if you aren't having fun.  (And yeah, this collar has now taken over two weeks and I like short rows).

some weeks are just much busier than others

I feel like this week has gone by so fast.  I am in the middle of training for Boston's Run to Remember, but only on week three of training for the Team Challenge half marathon.  As of this morning, I have run almost 14 miles this week and I still have the long run on Sunday!

I don't feel like I have really done much this week other than run.  I know it isn't true, because I am almost done the first of the two shrugs I'm making for the chocolate lady and have finally decided to finish the second sock (I'm working on a second pair of monkey socks).  I don't have to run on Saturday, so I am going to use the time to get some knitting done and send out my charity letters.

But onto this week's prizes!

First we have two skeins of HandPaintedYarn's lace weight (each a separate prize) in Royal Purple.  Each skein is 850 yards and has been wound into a center pull ball.  I'm making the Swiss Cheese scarf out of a skein of this yarn in a different colorway, and it is really fun to work with.

The second is a skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in bright lime green.  One skein is enough to make a pair of socks for most patterns!  The yarn is even brighter in person than in the picture.

So, please go and donate!  I would love to be at the half way mark by May 9th!  As always, for all of the other prizes, go here.

When is something finished

I have been pretty good about working on more than just one or two projects since I set up the rotation.  I'm still mostly focusing on the Elegant Shrug, so I can finish it either this week or early next week (I'm on sleeve two, so this isn't impossible), but I marked which items I had that were close to completion.  I have three projects that either only need finishing work or need some finishing and collars (umm, Fiery Bolero anyone?).  Sunday I decided to work on Pinup Queen.  I mean, two side seams is nothing even for someone as averse to seaming as I am.

Yeah, I did those seams.  I even tried it on (after doing some "blocking").  It feels even with a tank top underneath obscenely low cut.  My shoulders aren't very broad for my height/weight, so to keep this on my shoulders nicely I have to pull it down quite a bit.  Definitely not what I was hoping for.  I had this feeling that I would have a problem with this, so on Thursday I bought some lace to help fill in the gap.  I don't feel like it will be enough, so I plan on sewing in a modesty placket and a facing to prevent some stretching along the top edge of the bodice.  Now I know the basics of sewing, but I've never sewn fabric to a handknit so this will be quite the adventure.  I wanted it finished so I could wear it soonish (I always like to wear my handknits within a week of finishing when my happiness with the project is at its peak), but it is just not done yet.  I have a bit of a fabric stash from when I was active in the local SCA, but I'm not sure if any of it is really good for a facing. 

So, maybe I'll get it done this weekend.  I can't imagine getting it done during the week.  I'm just not that fast a seamstress (and I'll probably hand sew this).

Knitting with muppet

I'm still working on the Elegant Shrug (I'd promise pictures, but really I know myself better than that) using Nordiskas Trend.  It's a slubby boucle yarn with so much fuzz to it that it is a bit difficult to work with and very warm.  The yarn is 60% acryllic, 15% mohair, 15% polyamid and 10% wool.  I'm only on the first sleeve, because of my stupid level of dillydallying.  It's just not my favorite project for all sorts of little things.  But I plan on finishing both sleeves this weekend even though I'm on the first one.  Maybe once I only have the edging to do I'll do pictures.

Instead of being a good gal as it were, I have been starting new stuff.  I started a new pair of socks (another pair of monkeys) a week or two ago.  This morning I grafted the toe and started the second sock.  No second sock syndrome here!  I will finish both a sweater - yeah, I haven't finished the last two seams yet - and something else this month.  I can't go into next month with 13 items in my WIP list.  Wooboy.

Mostly what this means is Rotation (Word Doc).  Doing a rotation was pretty normal for me when I did cross-stitch all the time.  Even with a craft that time consuming, I never had only one project.  I had a document with all of my projects listed and I would just check off a square each hour I worked on the project.  I didn't automatically switch just because I had finished an hour.  More often it was 10 hours or 5.  Given at the time I was stitching when I got up at 4 and over lunch and in the evening, it wasn't unreasonable to get up to 5 hours in a day.  I was very focused, especially when I wanted to get a project to the framers in time for the holidays.  Yes, focused is a great word.

Of course, I'd love to be as focused on my knitting, but I find that with my tendency to start something new that I am a lot flightier about knitting than I ever was with cross-stitch.  So, here is to finishing at a few projects in the next two months.  I certainly have enough of them.

I can finish?

I have woven in all of the ends of the Cropped Bolero, my November Project of Shame.  Of course, I want a hook style clasp similar to the one I used on the capelet I made a year or two ago.  For that I will need to wait until probably Wednesday. 

I'm thinking ahead to the December Project of Shame. It has to be something I've been close to finishing for a while.  Usually that means something that only needs a trivial amount of knitting or something that would be done with some finishing work.

I have the Choo-Choo Bear hat, which I started *cough* a while ago.  My hubby kitted it up for me, but it calls for one of those yarns that is really soft in the wearing but feels kind of scary and filmy (like oil) while knitting with it.  I think I have ears and a leg.  Whatever I have left is hardly anything, because the project uses large needles and has a fairly small amount of finishing (though more than normal for a hat).

I also have a bag (actually 2) that I was working on for my hubby.  One was going to be a prototype for my theoretical Etsy shop - a dice bag shaped like a beholder.  I have ends to weave in and some sewing.  Sewing is one of those activities that I seem to only enjoy when I am actively doing it.  Thinking about it just gives me the heebie jeebies.  The other bag was the monkey backpack that was my Knitting Olympics project.  The knitting has been done for *cough* forever, but it has a lot of finishing.  I even have monkey fabric to line it with, so I don't have any good excuses.  Three projects for shame, but I will only pick one for December.  I'm hoping by the middle of 2008 to not have any PoS left.  I'll be down to the normal collection of too many WIPs, but they will all be projects that I'm happy admitting to or am willing to frog to finish them off.