Going to the Crazy Place, aka Christmas Knitting

GAH!

You know how the Yarn Harlot talks about going to the crazy place around this time each year? I fear I am going there too. Here's what I have to do before Christmas:

1. Gigantic Garter Rib Socks: I just turned the heel last night. I have to knit the too-long foot to match the other one, and this project should be done by the end of the weekend.
2. Clapotis: I'm on the 5th repeat on the straight section. Why am I knitting this again, again? The Sheep Shop yarn is really beautiful and lovely to work with, though.
3. Fetching and Calorimetry: I bought the yarn yesterday at Natural Stitches. Have I mentioned I've been there three times since the shop opened less than two weeks ago?
4. Thuja: Uh, I have the yarn.
5. Gentlemen's Fancy Socks: Yep, I have the yarn.
6. Child's Sweater Vest: Have I mentioned I have the yarn?

Anyone else at the Crazy Place yet?

My knitting is making me really happy

Knitting is always pleasurable for me, otherwise I wouldn't do it. But every once and awhile, all good forces in the Knitting Universe collide, thus making the experience truly wonderful.

This tree is what I see every morning when I wake up:


Now this is the sock I'm making:


Isn't that wonderful? I know the pictures don't do it justice, but the beautiful colorway of this sock yarn is the exact same color of the trees outside. The variation, the subtle shift in hue, it's all there. This gorgeous stuff is Dream in Color Smooshy in the Chinatown Apple colorway. The pattern is Embossed Leaves from Interweave's Favorite Socks. Both yarn and pattern are now my new favorites. I know I have no business knitting non-gift items at this time of year, but this project is truly a pleasure.

Knitting for Plimoth Plantation: Happy Thanksgiving!

Ever since all those "[insert historical period here] House" shows on PBS started coming out, my fantasy job has been to be one of those historical consultants that they use to do things like decorate the house, provide recipes and stock the kitchen, determine what the family will wear, etc. In fact, the spark of my dissertation came from my obsession with 1940s House and "Kitchen Front" recipes. My #2 fantasy job is to be one of those women who walk around Sturbridge Village knitting stockings and answering questions.

And now, just in time for Thanksgiving, a very small part of #2 has come true. I am going to be a volunteer knitter, making stockings for the historical re-enactors at Plimoth Plantation. Bill saw the call for volunteers linked into Ravelry and passed on the information to me. I'm going to be knitting plain stockings to start with, but the idea of knitting the fancy ones are intriguing. I'm such a geek, but I'm so, so pleased about this.

Speaking of stockings, I started my first foray into lace socks, casting on for Embossed Leaves. No, my Enormous Man Socks aren't done, but 1. I'm bored with them, and 2. I'm paranoid I'm not going to get the extra hank I haggled for on Ravelry. Here are some more sock skills I need to learn to complete these successfully:

• How to keep track of where I am on the chart.
• How to prevent huge, gaping ladders when the first stitch on each needle is a purl stitch.
• How to recover my project and pick up tiny dropped stitches after stupidly leaving the sock project where the toddler can get at it.

Could this sock be any bigger?

Crafts 013,
originally uploaded by bookscatsyarn.

Seriously? I mean, seriously...wow. I'm knitting for a man's size 11, and this is the sock that never ends. From what I'm learning on Ravelry, socks need to be knit at a really tight gauge, much tighter than what the label on the yarn suggests. I'm knitting these, made of a fairly thick fingering (KnitPicks Memories), on a size 1.5 DPN set. I'm not sure what my gauge is, but the stitches are very, very tiny, and I've had to beg for a third skein of this colorway on Ravelry. Combine that with a mindless but fiddly garter rib pattern and you have Sock Boredom kicking in pretty quickly. One down, one to go!

I'm having a really good time knitting with friends lately. Last week, Amy held an informal "Take Your Knitting Up a Notch" class and wrote a hat pattern for three friends who knew how to knit and purl but not much else. We went to Bloomin' Yarns, hereafter known as the Sock Crack Den, where I picked up two different colorways of Claudia Handpainted fingering for gifts. Then yesterday I met up with Lisa, Beth, and Michelle and ended up taking an impromptu fieldtrip to the newest LYS, Natural Stitches, where I bought yarn to do Backyard Leaves. The Cascade Wall is really fantastic, and the store has the best Malabrigo Worsted selection I've ever seen, so I will definitely be back with my husband to choose yarn for that sweater I've been promising him for years.

And also? When I worked at PKAB, I never had a stash. I never understood the concept of a stash. Sure, I worked on more than one project at a time, but I bought the yarn for projects as I went along. Today I am merrily entering my purchases into my Ravelry stash and it tells me "You are entering your 78th stashed yarn!" Where did all this yarn come from?

Posts that describe yesterday better than I could

Melissa and Amy summarize yesterday's "Knitting Bee."

All I can say is God bless Panera for not kicking us out for loudly discussing breast pumps, lactation consultants, Jenny McCarthy, controversial semi-famous in-laws and many other interesting subjects. ;)

Look! I can finish projects and blog about them, too!

Long time, no blog. I'm going to have to do an Amy-style list to catch up.

My new knitting rule is that for each project I want to start, I have to finish a WIP. My hope is that this will combat Startitis; if I have to slow down and make myself finish something before casting something else on, this should (ha ha) prevent me from starting projects on a whim.

So, SOCKS! Here's what I've learned:

• Socks are so much fun to do, with the magical turning of the heel.
• There's pretty much no finishing whatsover, which means that I can complete them and not have them stuffed in the bottom of my knitting bag for over a year like certain projects we will not mention.
• One can purchase all the sock yarn one wants because sock yarn doesn't count in a yarn diet*.
• Socks should be knitted on needles much smaller than you think because loose socks will wear out.

* In a fit of madness, I joined Blue Moon Fibers Socks that Rock 2008 and the Chewy Spaghetti Blue Plate Special Club. So that's $300+ worth of yarn that "doesn't count." Hmm.

ANOUK!
I still think this pattern is the cutest thing going in knitting. But I have to say, I am disappointed with the yarn and have my doubts about how well this sizes up. I'd knit it again for a newborn, with something with a little bounce in it like Cotton-Ease, in a heartbeat.

Many thanks to Lisa for doing some of the finishing work for me, and anyone who wants to join our Finishing Club, in which we trade projects we're tired of looking at, is welcome!

zomg! I turned a heel!

Wow. I get it now, I really get it.

I was forced to take a little break from Anouk (I need to reprint the chart, and the printer is on the third floor, and it wakes the baby, yadda yadda) so I picked up my sock again, which had been languishing as a boring tube for months. I'd started the heel flap at Beth's, and while zipping through my tivo'd Ugly Betty and Gray's Anatomy, I followed the Yarn Harlot's directions from Knitting Rules and turned the heel.


It was amazing. It was magical. People have said not to try to make sense of turning the heel ahead of time, just do what the pattern says and it will turn out. I never believed them because who the heck does a pattern without visualizing what you're supposed to do? But it's true. You just slip and knit and purl and suddenly, a heel!


Can you tell I'm really excited about this? I broke a DPN*, messed up somehow picking up stitches so I have two holes in various parts of the gusset, and discovered that the whole sock is full of ladders. But I've unlocked the mystery! I can do it!





* I've been using Crystal Palace DPNs and after this latest needle-breakage, I've come to the conclusion that long, fine bamboo ones just won't work for me. I need either the Lantern Moon Sock Sticks (ahem, stocking stuffer, ahem) or the set of Knitpicks Harmony DPNs with extra included in case of breakage or loss. (And yes, I realize that the third option is to learn to do it on two circs or Magic Loop, but one new skill at a time, people.)





PS. I went on a lovely yarn crawl with Lisa last week, where we hit Yarns Unlimited and Bloomin' Yarns.

Anouk musings

So I've been having a heck of a time getting gauge on Anouk. The recommended size 6 needle gives me 5.5 stitches per inch. Going up a size gives me 5.25 stitches per inch. The gauge on the original pattern is 4.5 stitches per inch. On Ravelry, my BFF Kate Gilbert told me she thinks Cascade must have reformulated the Pima Tencel since she originally designed and knit the pattern.

Oh well. So I plowed ahead and knit the front of the largest size with size 7 needles. It looks HUGE. The drape is nice, but the fabric is a tad bit see-through, and I wonder how on earth it's going to hang on a big baby or toddler, and I'm starting to wonder if my BFF Kate Gilbert actually tried a size other than the smallest one on a real baby. Plus, I don't know if it's me or the pattern (I suspect it's me), but the directions as written for the shoulders are backwards. Still, it's a super-cute design. I'll finish it and see how it works; if it doesn't, I'll rip it out and start over again on smaller needles. With any luck, I'll have it finished in time for Melissa to take with her when they visit Sophia, and by then, I hope the Guatamalan government can get its act together and let the adoptions in limbo go forward before the deadline.


In other news, my sister tried on her Tempting! We still need to get a nice ribbon, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

To Knit or Not to Knit

....knit Christmas gifts this year, that is. If I am going to do it, now is the time to decide.

Pros:

1. Economical! I can combine the Christmas budget with my Knitting budget and get hours and hours of entertainment.
2. Stash Busting!
3. Ravelry Queue! I can justify knitting those crapzillion scarves I put on my Ravelry queue. I can add them to my finished projects and have a sense of accomplishment.
4. Appreciative Recipients! I don't knit for "Muggles" anymore, so I know the recipients will like what I make for them. (Shameful Confession: I knit a Haiku each for my husband's niece and nephew but didn't give them to them when I realized my sister-in-law wouldn't appreciate what they were and they'd get trashed.)

Cons:

1. Not Economical!
2. Not Stash-Busting!
3. Horribly Time Consuming!

Here's why: I am, for some unknown and unfortunate reason, fixated on making a Clapotis for my mother (yeah, I know that's sooo 2004 and moreover, I vowed never to make one again). I have no Stash suitable for a Clap; I would have to buy more yarn. Hmmm.

In addition, I have horrible visions of me being consumed by Holiday Knitting, ala the Yarn Harlot, and family members opening boxes of half-finished projects and random scraps of yarn.

In other news, I have the back and right front of the Tilted Duster completed. It's a quick knit, but I think I messed up the shoulders. Sigh.

I joined a KAL

I've never done this before! I joined the Tilted Duster KAL, thinking I could use all the help I could get on this one. I feel like I'm making my first grown-up sweater, which is odd considering how long I've been knitting.

I allowed myself to cast on last night because I'd finished almost all the projects I started last summer in my Fit of Startitis. Tempting is now completed except for threading the ribbon through! I'm not 100% happy with it and I've decided that I just don't have the finishing skills to deal with those underarm seams. But to a non-knitter, it probably looks fine, and I'll post a picture when my sister tries it on.

I also swatched for Anouk, and I can't quite get gauge without it looking too open and airy. I'm terrible at this gauge thing, but if I'm getting 5 stitches per inch instead of 4.5, would that really be so bad for a baby garment? It would just be slightly smaller than it's supposed to be, right? Or maybe I should just try again with bamboo needles instead of my Denises. I know I sound like a complete idiot, but since I stopped working at a LYS, all common sense I had about gauge seems to have left my brain. Sigh.

Still more finished projects

The Placket Pullover from LMKG and the Moss Grid Handtowel from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I'm not entirely thrilled with either one of them. Both could certainly benefit from some blocking!

More Finished Projects

I've noticed this blog has become more about what I'd like to make and not so much about things I've actually done. Whoops. So here are two projects, just to prove that I am capable of finishing what I start.

The Men's Cashmere Scarf from LMKG; here it's become the Men's Sort-Of Cashmere Scarf. I used KnitPicks Panache. It feels absolutely beautiful, but it does fuzz a bit, and the stitch definition isn't as sharp as the 100% cashmere looks in the book.

Adaptation of the Candy Cane hat from Itty-Bitty Hats. Oh dear. This is going on the UGH! list on Ravelry. I was going for a fun Steelers hat for a toddler, but this looks like a misshapen bee disaster. It doesn't help that I used wool instead of cotton (the KnitPicks wool was the only yarn I could find that came in true Steeler colors), as the wool gives it this fuzzy blended look that makes the gold look dirty. Cotton would have been a lot crisper, at least. Ugh.

So many projects, so little time

I've decided I NEED to make the Tilted Duster, pictured on the cover of the latest Interweave Knits. Something about it is so appealing to me, from the beautiful drape of the "skirt" falling from the empire waist to the jauntiness of the asymmetrical fastening. It's been staring at me from the cover of the magazine ever since it came in the mail, and I finally succumbed. Jimmy Beans pulls through again with the yarn pre-packaged by size. Mine is going to be a beautiful heathered gray.

The other really lovely thing from the latest issue is the Minimalist Cardigan. I was daunted by the amount of seaming on it (I have vowed to knit in the round as much as possible) but my mother kindly volunteered to do the finishing work for me. Woo Hoo! These two sweaters are truly lovely and unlike anything you can buy in a store these days. I feel fortunate that I can knit well enough to make what I like.

And as always, I need to finish some projects before I begin the new ones. The boyfriend scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts is done. Henry's placket neck pullover, also from LMKG is also just about done, except for (what else) the finishing work. I think I will make myself finish Tempting and allow myself the pleasure of casting on Anouk, and then I can begin on my own sweaters.

What my husband did on his summer vacation

Wyoming 157,
originally uploaded by bookscatsyarn.

Yes, he jumped off the top of a mountain. I think he's hooked!

There's hope for me after all

Brian May earns his doctorate after 30 years.

Anyway.

Our time in Jackson is coming to an end, and I've made two more trips to Knit on Pearl. Now that I don't go to That Pittsburgh LYS That Shall Not Be Named*, I'm thrilled to support a nice, friendly LYS here. I picked up the special Interweave Felt issue, and felt (ha ha) an urge to felt again, after a felting hiatus of 2+ years. So I added Sophie and The French Market Bag to my Ravelry queue and picked up two lovely colors, Spice and Aubergine, of Lamb's Pride. I also bought Scarf Style; as I am highly suggestible, I added Falling Leaves to my queue as well because everyone else is doing it. Apparently I think I am going to knit from a chart. I have never knit from a chart before in my entire life. I don't know what gets into me sometimes.

* I received an email from CarlaK, via the knittiness and PGHKnitters groups on Yahoo. Apparently she has left the shop and is offering private lessons until the new store opens in Friendship this fall. The rates are very reasonable and she offers a huge variety of classes for all skill levels.

I finally get to make Anouk

Anouk! Anouk! I get to make Anouk!

I have been wanting to make this for pretty much forever, and now I get my chance to make this for the beautiful Sophia, who Melissa and Jon are so patiently waiting to bring home from Guatemala.

And whoever does the marketing at Jimmy Beans Wool is once again a genius. You can buy the yarn and the buttons for Anouk as a kit, which makes it a lot easier than bouncing back and forth between browsers, trying to remember how much you need for the size you want to make.

I'm so excited to begin the project. But, um, maybe I better finish some of the other things first.

The problem with yarn shopping on the internets

Could anyone look at the color card for Rowan Handknit Cotton on the Jimmy Beans site and tell me what color is closest to Steeler gold? (Hint: it is not "nectar," as I originally thought.)

Whoops

nevermind

Proof that Mason Dixon is crack

That dang book has made me knit a fancy handtowel. Who knits a handtowel??? Me, apparently, and anyone else who has swallowed the Mason Dixon Kool-Aid. The towel has a seed stitch border with a 14 row repeat inside. For the first set of repeats, I hated this project, and had to do a lot of tinking (but thankfully no ripping back). By the time I started the third set, I got into a groove and thought, okay, I can do this. I don't think I'll make stacks and stacks of them, but it is a nice break from all my other projects, all of which involve mindless circular knitting.

And since there is a picture of the handtowel, you may assume I found my camera cord. Here's a picture of the scenery here in Wyoming.

Hello from Wyoming!

For the month of August, I'm writing from Jackson Hole, where my husband plays in the Grand Teton Music Festival each summer. I'd put off doing any blogging until I uploaded pictures to share, but this morning, I realized I must have forgotten the cord for the digital camera at home. Ooops. I'll have to show my readers (all two of you) pictures of the mountains and moose-sightings when we get home.

This also means I have no knitting pictures. But here's an update, done Amy-style, of my projects.

1. Socks: I was rolling merrily along, comfortable in the knowledge that I have an extra skein in case I run out. I was also feeling smug that after my rough start with knitting on DPNs, I didn't have any ladders in my knitting. Lesson #1: Never feel smug because it will bite you in the ass. I stretched out the sock to see if it would fit around my calf and what did I see? Ladders. In my defense, I didn't have them before; I'm thinking my gauge changed when I started knitting out here.
2. Placket Pullover: I'm ready to do the sleeves and I see the same confusion about attaching the sleeves as I encountered on Tempting. I'm just going to do it my way and see what happens. Also, the idea that this is a four to six hour project is a LIE. Maybe for the newborn size, but definitely not for the toddler size. And finally, this Cotton-Ease, is, uh, growing. I thought the acrylic was supposed to prevent this issue?
3. Speaking of Tempting: nothing to say. It's in the bag, looking at me reproachfully for neglecting it in a recent fit of Startitis.
4. Men's scarf: I'm doing the Men's Cashmere Scarf for my husband for our anniversary. Did I mention our anniversary was two days ago? I'm loving the Panache yarn from KnitPicks, but I cannot get the gauge right: size 11, as called for in the pattern, is too loose. Size 10 is too tight? And guess where my size 10.5 needles are? Yes, they're at home. Oh well.

Happily, there is a LYS here, and a very nice little one it is, tucked under a chichi shoe store in a side-street of "downtown" Jackson. I added to the stash:

• one skein of PURPLE varigated Manos
• three skeins of Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals, which I've never found at home, and
• one skein of Trekking sock yarn

Other things of interest: I picked up the anniversary issue of Vogue Knitting, and it has two wonderful, informative roundtable discussions, one from the "Old Guard" of knitting (Meg Swanson, Alice Starmore, Kaffe Fasset, etc), and one from the "New Guard" (Debbie Stoller, the Yarn Harlot, Vickie Howell, etc). I'm dying for someone else to read it and discuss it.

And finally, HOORAY! I heard through the Ravelry grapevine that Martha Underwood is re-opening her yarn shop in Friendship. Hooray! Her shop is sorely needed, and I'm so excited for it to open.