AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

Outside the CVS

Huddled against the cold.

These pigeons were huddled outside of the CVS yesterday (actually, I've been seeing them like this most of the winter). I consider pigeons to mostly be rats with wings, but I feel sorry for them sitting there like that. Just not quite enough to think of making pigeon sweaters.

I'm supposed to be starting a new project (I was supposed to start it last night), but I realized that I don't have the right needles available.  Rather than buying yet another set of needles, I'm trying to plow through a project I started over a year ago (possibly two years ago, it has been in a bag in the closet for quite some time).  Thankfully this project shouldn't take too long.  It's a sweater, but the back was done, the front was a bit more than halfway done and there are sleeves.  Maybe I'll have some more knitting progress to show soon after all.

divide for front and back

For a sweater (bottoms up) knit in the round the divide is a special place.  It is quite a bit of distance along in a sweater, and with one that is tunic length it is an unweildy amount of fabric in the lap.

Especially on public transit.

So, this morning I packed my needles and the first ball of yarn for abotanicity...

And proceeded to work on the tunic sweater anyway.

What was I thinking?

necessary and perfect

I've been browsing in Etsy for a while now.  Window shopping as it were.  When I decided I wanted a shop (not that I've added anything), I had to include my information for billing... and umm, for buying.

I just bought these.

Now I just need to pick 5 people who need extra Easter loving.

Spinning in the dark

When I was having my lesson on Saturday, Lucy mentioned that she had taught a couple of people who were legally blind, and that they were taught as if they couldn't see all of the twist in the yarn.  This morning when I spent a few minutes spinning, I figured I would try using my fingers as my primary method of determining whether or not to continue park and draft or if I should spin the spindle again.  With the exception of a couple of times when my impatience resulted in either very slubby or very thin areas (because unintentional thick and thin is super easy), this was much easier to follow.  When there is plenty of twist left for the yarn to grow into, the yarn right around the hook feels like little pebbles on a string (actually it is everywhere, but it felt like it left the area above the hook last). 

I did about 30 minutes of spinning before going back to my knitting. 

I'll probably knit up my little bit of superwash from the weekend.  When I was starting it, I twisted it in the wrong direction and it will be a bit irritating to remember to spin the entire thing counter clockwise.  Instead, swatch!

It's nice to hear

I decided to debut my Tangled Yoke cardigan (which looks tons better than my pictures and my pictures aren't that bad!) today, because I had a staff meeting and those rooms tend to be cold. 

I've been asked if I bought it, shock that I made it, and some other nice comments that were just lovely to hear.  I don't need to hear them, but it is nice to know that the garment is as nice as I think it is.

I'm taking a break from knitting today (meaning most of the day, because I still knit for about an hour this morning).  I've been plowing through the Loop-D-Loop sweater about as fast as I can, and have finished about 18 inches of knitting in a bit under a week.  I could probably keep up the pace and have a sweater by the end of next week no problem, but this isn't a race.  I've been trying to do a little bit of spinning in the morning or evening (or both) since I had my lesson on Saturday.  My impatience has the yarn being less consistent than it was when I was being guided.  Not completely unexpected.  I'm developing my little used muscles and my shoulders were a little uncomfortable this morning.  Baby steps.

Most of this weekend was another knitting extravaganza.  Not quite as prolific as last weekend, but I actually made progress on my two core projects. 

Nature Wool

I decided last week to start the Slinky Bark Skin Tunic (or whatever it is called) from Loop-D-Loop, and it is working up wonderfully fast. 

I am making mine in Nature Wool (eggplant).  This is the same yarn I used for a friend's scarf I made a number of years ago.  Then I enjoyed the wool, but was a little annoyed.  I had decided to make the Irish Hiking Scarf, because I enjoyed my little one I made for myself.  I had started the scarf with the recommended needles, a big mistake for me.  My cables were so loosy goosy that I felt like the fabric was horrible, but I was too stubborn to just rip it out and start it on smaller needles.  The fabric I'm producing now with the size 6 needles is what I wished I was producing then.  Of course, with the scarf I compounded my foray into stupid by felting the entire thing.  It was still gifted and it is still used.  Less of a testimonial to how hard I am on myself and more a testimonial to how much a wool scarf is appreciated in the middle of winter, especially when it is not in the winter monochrome palate.

I'm still working on the lacy dress (slowly, like 2 rows a week slowly), but I think that once the huge thrust is done with this top I'll be able to get into more of a groove with the dress.  I am probably deluding myself. 

Yesterday when I was going through the hall closet looking for my spindle, I found three other sweaters in progress.  One is a baby sweater for a child who is now, umm, almost 18 months old.  The others are the Everything But the Kitchen Sink, which is waiting for me to finish weaving in ends and finish the sleeves (or attaching the sleeves, I am pretty far along) and the sexy ribbed top from the first Stitch and Bitch book.  Maybe I can make this the year of the sweater after all, given how many I already have on the needles.

@ Mind's Eye

This afternoon I had my lesson with Lucy at Mind's Eye Yarn.  About two years ago I was part of a spinning swap, so I have my original spindle (plain light wood) and an LCD light up spindle and some fiber from the swap and my "boring brown."  I have been buying bits of fiber in drips and drabs, mostly little 4 ounce chunks, a sizable amount of spinning on a spindle.  Of course, I didn't know how to spin and was trying to use Spinning the Old Way to help me along, but something just wasn't clicking. 

I didn't want to just sit here and say I can't do it, so I finally called Lucy last week and scheduled my lesson.

Goodness!  It was fun.  I could feel the play of lightly used muscles coming to the fore, mostly little muscles in the hands and shoulders.  I don't think I'm a natural, but it was nice to see the different textures coming into play.  My yarn is definitely newbie yarn (she said, "Love the lumps."), slubby and thick and thin all over.  I'm probably too impatient for the spindle, because I just want to take the little bit I've done and make tiny little swatches.  Not that I know what I would do with two little swatches.

Yeah, two.

Because when I got home I pulled the LCD spindle out of the box and the brightest of the superwash merinos my swap partner sent me, and I spun for about 20-30 minutes (until I started to feel tired).  I probably shouldn't be working with the merino quite yet, but I wanted color and to see how far my lesson transferred into the finer fiber.  It's obviously a bit harder for me to work with, as I'm producing a slubbier yarn, but I'm just tickled pink (or blue) that it is working at all.

Of course, when the lesson was over I bought some more!  What was I thinking?

Yeah, that gives me about a pound of various fibers to spin.  At least I didn't buy more yarn!

Lucy had silk hankies, bamboo, camel and cashmere.  I picked something gorgeous yet sensible though I was really drawn to the colors in the bamboo and silk.  She also had some of the Noro sock yarn in stock, but I was good relatively and only bought the one thing in addition to my lesson.

Now I'm going to spend about 30 minutes spinning more of the brown wool before doing a bit more knitting for the day.  I love learning something new!

Learning something new

Over 2 years ago I bought my first spindle.  I signed up for a spinning swap and got some pretty fiber and a second spindle (one that lights up!).  At Circles, I bought a batt (is that the right term) and some sock yarn from the gentleman from Dorchester Farms.

Yesterday, I called Lucy at Mind's Eye Yarns and scheduled an actual spinning lesson.

I've had a hard time convincing myself to try spinning at home.  Saru-chan seems to love what is worst for her (oh my poor yarn has had some awfully rough times), so I am hesitant but I want to learn.  Even if I decide I don't like doing it and sell or give away my little spinning stash, the learning will not go to waste.  I don't want to be the person who says that they can't get this or do that without making a conscientious attempt to truly try something.  Right now, those big areas are sewing and spinning.  I have made some half-hearted efforts, but not enough to feel good about discarding these activities. 

So, Saturday afternoon I'll see what I can learn.  I'll bring my boring learning wool and one of my pretty swap wools and see what I've been missing all this time.

A year of socks

I decided sometime at the end of last year that I liked hand knitted socks and that three pairs were not enough.  I wanted more socks and I wanted to knit them.  A pair each month.  Of course, I didn't knit a pair in January and while I have two separate pairs started in February, it wasn't looking terribly likely that I'd get those done either. 

So, I cheated.

I had a single ball of Silky Wool left after knitting the Tangled Yoke.  Saturday night (I think), I cast on for the Cabled Anklets in One Skein by Leigh Radford.  I knit on them while my hubby was watching BU defeat Maine a second night in a row in overtime, and I continued knitting on them most of the weekend.  I knit on them on Monday morning when Saru-chan continued to voice objections over the use of the bedroom as a blocking area, and then I finished them.

The size 3 needles and my small-ish feet were a good combo for these socks, so they were quick.  I could have made them a little taller, and I haven't blocked them.  They are socks for around the house, and their bright red color is just what I'll need when I reach for them on a snowy day.

So, I have finished my first pair of socks for the year and I have another pair on the needles (somewhere in the foot - if I get a move on I'll be able to finish the first sock sometime this week).

Yesterday I started the Tree Bark sweater from Loop-D-Loop. I just needed something at a bigger gauge than socks (size 1), the Frog Camisole (size 2 or 0, I'd have to double check), the Swiss Cheese Scarf (size 3) or abotanicity (something small).  So, I did the most cursory gauge swatch I could, then *cough* ignored it and decided to make the medium anyway.  My gauge is about 28 stitches for 4 inches unstretched (instead of 24), but the entire top is ribbed and is meant to stretch over the curves.  I think it will still work, because the unstretched measurement is within a few inches of my waist measurement and my bust measurement is somewhere within the ballpark of the stretched to highly stretched measurement. 

But mostly this was because I wanted to use the size 6 needles.  Because after size 3 and 2 they are huge!

I'm an adult knitter now!

My very first cardigan with button bands and sewn on buttons and adult sizing!

I finished the Tangled Yoke on Saturday, February 16, about 1.5 months after restarting it.  I went with the 34" bust for a little bit of negative sizing, which makes it less of a layering piece.  I am completely thrilled.  It took me a few tries to pick up the proper number of stitches for the button bands and my button placement was 100% perfect, but for a first adult sweater this is still pretty sweet!

Project Specs:
Pattern: Tangled Yoke by Eunny Jang (Interweave Knits)
Yarn: Silky Wool, 6 skeins
Size: 34"
Button detail

I didn't really change anything about this.  To get row gauge, my perrenial downfall, I knit this with both US 3 and 4 needles.  The cabled band wasn't hard, though I definitely made my fair share of mistakes with it.  This would have been a good spot to add a stitch marker for the initial 4 stitches that are always worked plain.  Part of me feels like the button bands were the hardest thing I've ever done, though I've done intarsia so that's not really true.  Finishing an adult size, non-sock garment though is a great feeling.  I have plenty of smaller projects that I've gotten done, so I know I can do a range of things now and not just need to concentrate on the little stuff.

Of course, about two days after I finished this sweater I finally took that size 4 needle and started the lacy dress (no pictures of that because 2 rows of lace looks like nothing but fuzz).

It was an amazingly productive weekend.  Tons of knitting done, some reading, and some video games for a great change from the crazy week in Valentine's retail.