False Alarm

I apologise to leaving all one of you reading this hanging. The knitting crisis was solved with a potato masher & a plastic bucket.

Well this is embarassing

So I seem to have found a knitting technique I can't do. And the worst of it is that I left it too long, and it's close enough to Christmas that I might have to actually give up on this.

Now to figure out training...

I know I'm possibly jumping the gun a little bit, but I've already figured out what I'm going to do for the Knitting Olympics. After all, athletes know years in advance what they're hoping to get to do at the Olympics. It's definitely an Olympian task. I am going to get my shawl blocked. I'm not quite sure how much I'm going to try to hold myself to "properly", because at the rate I've been going (tried and given up twice so far, been over a year since I finished the knitting), getting it done at all is a good job.

Maybe I should re-block my navy shawl thingy, it does need it, as training. I really don't want to take time out and knit something new in lace just for blocking practice. I have a pair of socks to knit after all. (And a couple of other Christmas gifts, that I'm fairly sure are safe to name here, but are going to be quiet just in case).

Allan, I apologise in advance for the lack of floor space.

Ribena

So I have finished the Ribena sweater. I haven't done the "armies" yet. Given the weight of this (it's quite heavy) I think that having the option to make it long sleeved would be nice. I wore it the other day, and it was probably around 14 or so when I biked in to work, and while I could feel the chill I wasn't freezing. I was, in fact, somewhat warm when I arrived. Since it keeps me warm, I think it would be nice to have a long sleeved option, as I find my bare skin chills fairly quickly.

I, unfortunately, lost Debbie's e-mail address, so I can't thank her again for the wonderful gift of yarn. Who would ever have imagined that switching both e-mail addresses and having computer problems would result in this sort of problem.

Overall I think I like it. It definitely has that "homemade" look because a) I'm not good at finishing up and b) Katrina is actually a real PITA to sew up. You'd think I'd remember that after making a sweater where the seams stand out like worms crawling up the sides, but apparently not. It's still probably fine for work, even once I get a real job. The pinkness might be a problem, but once I HAVE a job, standing out is perfectly acceptable.

My yarn budget is safe

So we went to the library yesterday, and my mother foolishly took her eyes off me while she made some photocopies. Before you say that at my age I should be able to look out for myself, let me explain why this is bad. After realising that I had too many knitting books, I went up to find some fiction. My selection of books got me accused of bragging, and caused a minor tussle between my parents. (It was a new to us book by Bujold, the arguments were over who read it first).

One of the knitting books I brought back was KnitLit the Third. One of the stories is from a woman who explains her thrift-store yarn as follows:

"Our local Mennonite-run shop was a treasure trove of old, funky, and discontinued (long discontinued) yarns. They were so damn cheap, I never could bring myself to leave them there. In all, I had eight totes of yarn, as well as several plastic grocery bags."

I have ONE standard-sized PC shopping bag, half full of yarn and needles from the thrift store. And it was for a specific purpose. I didn't buy ANY of the lovely wool they had that once (I was just a pusher and encouraged my mom to do so, but that's neither here nor there). I think that there is absolutely no reason to assume that living across from Michael's is a bad idea.

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.

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.

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.

Done!

Yeah, so my camera batteries are currently in my bike light. I need to get new batteries, and being able to ride after dark trumps taking pictures of my shawl(and I'm too lazy to dig out a screwdriver to get the batteries out of my camera. I just grafted 40 stitches in cobwebweight lace. I have an excuse).

The shawl isn't actually done, just the knitting and grafting. I still have about 7 or 8 ends to work in (actually I think there's more than that, because there is a loose part in the centre which I'm going to cut and tie and work the ends in). And there is still the herculean task of blocking the shawl ahead of me (taking the shawl out of storage and smoothing it out is projected to take 1/2 hour by the pattern. Blocking sounds slow and painful).

But the knitting is DONE!

Pictures when I get power for the camera.

Porcupine!

I start toe-up socks using figure 8 cast on. On 5 dpns. I am either really crazy, or else effortlessly skilled. Either way, you should all be scared!

Fortunately

There is nothing quite like realise that the last couple hundred stitches were done in knit when they should have been purl.

Tinking lace is not cool.

Poor Americans

It's ironic how combining two things to make knitting easier - garter stitch (in general, but lace in this case) and knitting in the round - can make my shawl such a pain. Admittedly, both those techniques are designed to avoid purl, so I suspect it's like negative numbers - where two negatives make a positive. Except that in this case we want negatives... as in negative amounts of purl stitch...

Ok, I think I'm babbling. Let's just say that yrn is a pain. As purl lace in general.

It might be possible

Ok, so since I would no longer need to make the bolereos I might be able to get the shawl done, like Angela said. She's cool, not just because she's in engineering and knits an incredible amount of stuff, but also because she designed some cool tams.

Oh, and by the way: I'm aware that I never actually needed to make the boleros.

Yes, I'm crazy

So, I have a question:

Do people think that I can knit four of these and the rest of this: in approximately 18 months? (click the picture... you really need to).

Actually I know I can. However let's add passing 3B and fourth year too.

I was afraid of that...

The shawl centre is somewhat odd looking because I didn't really bother blocking it much (I'm sure you can figure out why not). It seems a little small, but I haven't even finished the first thing of yarn (but it might not last out picking up new stitches), so I guess this is less than a quarter of the finished shawl.

I'm off to start courting insanity picking up stitches for the border. Toodles!

Socky Happiness

I got new sock needles recently. They're rather necessary: my old ones are 4 mismatched needles, with various amounts of bends in them. My new ones? For $6 at what is probably my LYS now (I don't think that Michael's or Lens Mill count) I got a set of 5 2.5mm dpns (20 cm long). They're a little longer than I'd like, but they're lightweight, strong, and not very pointy. I personally like pointy needles, but these are fine for socks, and don't make holes in as many things.

As for how they're doing, I started a sock on Monday. These socks are strictly for in-class, as it's a busy time of term. I am turning the heel (on a men's dress sock, that I am knitting intermittently due to my lingering sprain and taking notes) today. I would have done so during my tutorial but I wanted to look up how to do an eye of the partridge heel. And the delay is no bad thing - I think I used the wrong yarn. As in the yarn that I have 3/4 of a skein left. Now I've been known to mix sock yarns before, but given that my other yarn is wool, and this is superwash... I'm going to go yarn shopping on Saturday. (no complaints about that one, trust me).

Let me know if anyone has suggestions on things that I ought to be knitting. I have a thrummed mitten to finish before I decide instead that the stink of burning wool isn't that bad a thing, and a binary scarf to do for Christmas. Oh, and I've ordered the yarn for my shawl (before you ask, no this shawl does NOT mean that I'm getting married). Aside from that though, once I've finished Allan's sweater repairs and these socks there's nothing. Well... aside from two years' worth of finishing up.

I don't seem to be helping my cause there... Unlike some Fools who think that hitting rock bottom is cause to dig harder, I'm going to call this a night.

God Bless.

Now With Twice As Many Needles

So work has been going a little slowly. Not that I don't have enough of it, just that it takes a while to do. And a lot of that time is thumb-twiddling time. Or, as I like to think of it, knitting time. So, since I've finished the shawl (it is blocked! Pictures coming when I get my camera back), I brought the lace scarf that I started last summer. Now this scarf, like most, is knit flat. Unlike most of my knitting, however, this scarf is not knit on a circular needle (they're great for knitting flat, just work back & forth using the two ends as two different needles). It needed the needle that I left at my place. Fortunately I remembered said needle today. (It was found when I was trashing my place looking for darning needles. I guess I need to lose something else so I can find the darning needles now).

Help!

Ok, I need advice. Turns out that Katrina has indeed been discontinued. There are three lots up on eBay that I would be interested in. Lilac, Red and Blue.

Advice on which one? And should I be using Katrina for this sweater. Oh, yeah. Should I be making the sweater at all?

Katrina!

Ok, so this is the sort of thing that works better on a different type of blog. Like the kind that people read. But I'm trying to figure out if Patons still makes Katrina yarn. I knit a sweater for a friend using it, and I've found a sweater that I think would be beautiful in that.

It's not listed on their site. I had a bit of fun going through eBay to find out what it was called (I remembered what it looked like, and that it was a Patons yarn. There are worse things to have to figure out). The advantage of eBay is that there is some yarn available there. However it's a bit more expensive than I'd like to pay. I like knitting, and I do need clothes, but the colour I like is currently over $50 for what is *hopefully* enough.

I am (possibly) going to Michael's soon to get supplies for my dress (although I've taken long enough that I can just wait until I go home and use what's there). I'll take a look, however if I'm going to need this online yarn I do want to know to keep an eye out for it.

Suuure You Can't

You may or may not be familiar with Stephanie's story of sitting in the hospital, knitting, and encountering a brain surgeon who was amazed that anyone would have the patience to do something that picky. (Yes, I'm somewhat worried by that too.)

I snickered when I read this (and again when I heard her tell the story when I went to hear her speak). People just don't think, right? Too bad that there wasn't time for that poor woman to realise what she'd said. Of course I'm sure you're all snickering at me now, being that foolishly naive.

My job at the moment is involving long periods of sitting and waiting, so I decided to take advantage of that to catch up on my knitting. (What with having a somewhat immovable deadline for this shawl that I'm working on the time is useful). The engineer in the office with me noticed me knitting & was amazed. He stated that men just don't have the patience to do that sort of thing. Now, while I agree that men and women have different skills, let's examine this. Starting with the fact that my boyfriend has knit a garter stitch scarf well over 2m long, and finishing with the fact that this is an electrical engineer talking. He designs chips. (The computer kind) for professors.

For those of you who haven't had to do it yet, working with electronic components is much finer work than knitting. Especially knitting on 5.5mm needles. And no, none of this sank in during our extended conversation on this. I guess it just serves me right for daring to doubt the Yarn Harlot.