Saturday, January 31, 2009

One more step towards being normal

So I recently got I believe is my first comic book ever. Well, not counting Archie comics. Yes, I am mainstream enough to read comics. Of course, this being me, can you guess what kind it is?

Yep. It's a knitting comic. And if your reaction to that is the same as my initial reaction - thinking that it's going to be somewhat cheesy, because how do you make a superhero story about knitting, well you're actually going to be very surprised by the story.

It's less a comic about knitting, and more a superhero comic where the characters knit. There is more knitting promised in future issues, which I appreciate. As for the comic itself, I liked it, and I tend to not like graphic novels a lot, or comics done in that style (as far as I'm concerned when it's this short, it's a comic). Those two things together may condemn more than they recommend, but I'd still say it's worth a look. It's quite entertaining, and you will laugh out loud more than once reading it, if a sample of two people is anything to go on.

I would have two minor issues with this. The first is that it was too short. Which is very hard to actually call a problem I guess. However, as someone who considers Harry Potter a nice afternoon's read (except for books 6 and 7, I can't stand them in large doses), a standard-length comic is over all too soon. My other "complaint" would be that the pattern is far more simplisitic than I'm interested in. It's a cool idea, but it's not the sort of thing I make. The problem might just be that the pattern is "beginniner to early intermediate", although I don't necessarily object to easy. It's in the definition of beginner I guess.

All in all, it's enough to make me regret posting this late enough that I can't get the rest of the subscription for my birthday.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Squeal!

I'm getting a sneak peek copy of Handknit Heros! It's a graphic novel for knitters, and there will apparently be a knitted item featured in the issue, and it includes the pattern. All I know is that the pattern for this issue is a hooded scarf with pockets.

I don't know if I'll make the scarf, but if anyone would like it, let me know.

Dress Enough for an Engineer


So these are the latest Allan socks. Actually, these pictures are so late going up, that there is another pair of Allan socks on the needles. The pair on the needles is going to take a long hiatus though, as once I have those needles free I am planning on starting the bridal attendants' socks. Alex, I love you so very much for picking heavy weight yarn. That makes the whole project easy.

Back to the sock at hand - it's in Wildfoote, I knit it on 2.5mm needles at a tension of 16.5 stitches /5cm. (Yes, I know that's 8.25 spi, but in the interests of allowing people who don't like math to knit too, I have decided to eliminate inches from my knitting). I definitely recommend the yarn. It's very nice to knit, and so far seems to be wearing well, not that you can tell before a couple of years have passed. I think it's a shade thicker than, for example, Regia, so my tension isn't actually that loose, it's a very nice fabric. Here's the heel and cable a bit closer up.

The cable is a 2x2, crossed every 4 rows, and the heel accomadates Allan's narrow ankles by being a band heel, and the overall size of his feet by having an 8 stitch band. I believe there is a 2 stitch "guesset" to decrease from the 72 stitches I had in the cuff to the 68 stitches in the foot. The difference is because of the cable.

Sorry about the detail picture, but my camera turns the flash off if I set it to take close-ups. And it's just a point-and-shoot, so even if I did know how to take pictures properly, it wouldn't do me any good, because the camera wouldn't let me.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Yes, I still knit

I finally have batteries in my camera. I took them out for my bike light, as being able to get around after dark is more important than pictures. It only took me five months to buy a new set of batteries...

So, here is the shawl. If you want to see details, scroll down, that picture is quite large if you expand it (click on it).

I finished knitting it back in August. As you can see, it's not completely blocked yet. In my defense, I did try back at the beginning of September. The evidence of this is that the centre has been partly blocked. The centre is the bit in this post. Oh, and yes, I would have been able to to do the 4 boleros and a jacket as well, given that I've done most of a sweater and about 2/3 or more of an afghan, and there's still 5 months to go.

As far as I know, what I was doing will actually work, I just need to remember to keep the shawl wet as I work on it. I let it dry part way through, thinking that I could just wet it afterwards, like with normal knitting. The difference is that with lace, you want the extra little bit of stretch that the damp gives you, and if your work drys too much as you're pinning it out, you'll find that one side of the centre can be easily stretched to 75 cm (it was more, but I reduced it a couple of times to make it the same size as the other sides), and the other sides will barely reach 70.

I think I'll give it another try when the weather warms up and I can work outside again. Fortunately it's not being used as wedding reception decoration anymore, so I don't have a time limit on it, as the blocking probably won't get done until after the wedding, given where I'll be living and all that.