Hobbit Knits

Tequila Sunrise

2009-08-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

OK, I'll skip right over all the other 8 or 9 projects I have worked on since May and jump right to this cool Kool-Aid dyeing project. I have been wanting to dye sock blanks for a while, since I have the machine for knitting the blanks, and I thought it was such a neat idea. The members of our Steveston knitting group decided a while ago that we would give this a try. In July we ordered the yarn and in early August a group of us got together to wind the yarn and knit the blanks. Then Kelian kindly opened her home and we dyed our blanks using Kool-Aid and Wilton's cake dye. I'll post my blank from that night in a few days. Fast forward to this past week when I went over to the island and showed my dyed sock blank to my U of Ottawa bound niece. She has been knitting socks for a while and was very excited at this idea, so we bought some undyed yarn from an independent dyer in Victoria (don't worry - we also bought some of her very cool dyed yarns!), knitted up the blanks and tried the experiment again. Kirstie dyed a blank for herself, I dyed a blank for one of my nieces, and another niece, Jennifer, the die-hard Harry Potter fan, dyed a third one.

I have had a pattern for "Fawkes" socks in my queue for some time now. Fawkes is Dumbledore's phoenix, and lovely shades of red and orange. I told Jen if she wanted me to knit that pattern, she should dye her blank in reds, oranges and yellows. She did a stunning job of dyeing her blank, and now it's up to me to knit up the pattern. Startitis hit hard and I couldn't wait, so cast on for the pattern. I'm really liking the way it looks... but it looks more like a Tequila Sunrise than a Phoenix... :)

Colourful Avery

2009-05-30T13:58:00.001-07:00

This Avery sweater is a flip on the regular pattern. I had more variegated yarn than solid colour, so I made the sleeves plain green and knitted the front and back in variegated. The only problem was that normally you choose bits of self patterning yarn from different sections of the colourway to knit the intarsia blocks on the front of the sweater - and I was working with plain green and the variegated. I solved the problem by searching through my stash and finding ends of balls of yarn in various bright colours. I think they make great blocks on the sweater front - very colourful.

I took a closeup photo of the intarsia blocks as I have often been disappointed in the way my edge stitches look in intarsia knitting. This time a tried a technique that Holli described to me and I am much happier with the way it looks, although I think it still needs a bit of refining.

The colour purple

2009-05-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

The knitting machine came in handy again as I worked with some purple yarn to create two little sweaters. Though there was enough variegated yarn to make a size 2 child's sweater, probably, I had two different shades of purple to coordinate with the Tofutsies variegated. So, I opted to make two smaller sweaters, each with its own purple. The first one, from Holli Yeoh's Devan pattern, was made with Trekking ProNatura. This is the third time, now, that I have made this pattern. It is a beauty to make and the instructions are so clear and well written. This little sweater will go into my stash of baby sweaters for handy gifts.

The second sweater was made for charity. Our knitting guild has decided to support a local hospital and we are knitting baby sweaters and baby things to be donated to the hospital. The hospital will distribute the items to new mums in financial difficulty. For this sweater, I used Holli's pattern Avery. However, that pattern has blocks of the variegated colour knitted in intarsia on the front, and I was pretty sure that I was cutting it fine on the Tofutsies yarn. I wanted something to tie the colours together, and without the colour blocks it seemed difficult. However, I thought that if I did a row of eyelet across the body of the sweater, every few rows, the effect would be lacy and feminine. To accent this, I did a picot hem in the variegated yarn on the body and at the neck. I think the final result is quite nice. The purple yarn for this one is Opal, and the colour is not very well represented in the photo. It is a very dark purple, and I actually thought that it would not be as good a complement to the Tofutsies as the ProNatura. When they were both knitted up, however, I find that I like the dark purple as a contrast to the variegated better, even though the purple of the ProNatura is almost a perfect match.

Spring lambs and all

2009-04-12T13:11:00.001-07:00

It's spring time and baby lambs are on the way. A trip out to the farm in Chilliwack didn't net us a sight of the new babies - none were born yet, but Stewart got to feed the sheep and the chickens. Loretta has at least two breeds of sheep; a horned Icelandic variety and a more common, North American breed (don't know for sure what breed they are - Loretta calls them her 'woolies') without horns. They were a bit skittish with us, but as soon as Stewart had grain in hand he became their new best friend.

Loretta doesn't sheer her sheep herself, as that is a skill that takes a bit of time to acquire, however she does keep the wool, wash, card and spin it herself. She has tried some experimenting with dying the wool, but mostly she prefers to use the different shades as they come off the sheep. That is why she likes to have dark and light sheep, and is hoping for a few spotted ones among the lambs. After our farm tour, we went inside the tiny farmhouse to have a look at some of her spinning. Specifically, we were looking for some yarn to knit up a hat for my niece, Taryn. We chose a lovely mottled dark/light grey that has knit up into a very nice little Topi. The hat knitted up quickly, however, the brim seems overlarge, and may have to be frogged and reknit. Taryn will have to try it on first, but overall, I am happy with the way it looks.

So we came home without seeing any lambs, but a couple of days after the visit, we received the following photo via email! Here is new baby Ophelia:

Warm woolies

2009-01-18T13:19:00.000-08:00

Beautiful blue for beautiful blue-eyed boy. This sweater is another Holli Yeoh pattern, called Avery. I have made it in Opal yarn, a kit I purchased from Holli. The self striping yarn with the browns, greens and blues are a great compliment to the blue of the main colour. Mostly done on the machine, the corrugated ribbing and the blocks of colour on the front were done by hand, because my machine doesn't do (a) ribbing, and (b) two colour intarsia. I quite like that I have to do some by hand, though, it means I don't entirely abandon my hand work to the machine. After all, am I knitting because I want to knit or because I want to produce? Both, but I do enjoy the knitting part.

Another Avery, this time done in Trekking yarn. The self-patterning yarn on this one, like the Christmas sweater in reds and greens, is more tweedy than stripy. I couldn't actually find a spot where the pattern repeated itself. Because different colours are plied together, and the length of the colour repeat on them must differ, they don't fall together at the same point of another ply's colour, necessarily. I really like the colour of this one, but sweet baby James' mum said it was too girly, so it will have to go to a girl somewhere. Since Christmas, I have made three children's sweaters on the machine. The sewing up is a bit behind, but it is amazing how quickly they come together on the machine.

These are the sleeves of the black and grey cabled sweater by Wilma Peers, from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006. They rather look like scarves at the moment - yes they are both on one needle, and that does emphasize the narrow look, but I am a bit concerned that they are actually going to be big enough around the arm. I love the cables on this sweater, but I have been somewhat frustrated with the knitting. The instructions are less than clear in some parts and I have interpreted, and sometimes adapted, them to my liking. My main concern is the length of the sleeve. Because it is a raglan, and I am not sure how high up the shoulder the top of the sleeve will sit, it is difficult to judge exactly how long to make the sleeve. I know it needs to be shorter than the instructions call for; even with a long, beyond the wrist sleeve, 25 1/2 inches is far too long for my short arms. I am hoping that my estimation is going to be a go...

Little tikes

2008-12-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

Little Tikes sweater, complete except for buttons. My colleague was thrilled with the results and gave it to her nephew for Christmas.

No time to blog...

2008-12-04T21:46:00.000-08:00

...just a quick entry to show the completed Devan sweater - all pieces knit by machine on Sunday, November 30. Pieced and finished by today! That has to be a record! I love the colourway on this yarn (fortissimo??? can't remember - but the info is on Ravelry). Unfortunately, I knew I was going to be very tight with the amount of yarn, and so I didn't attempt to match the striping. The yarn is tweedy as much as stripy, so the effect is not awful, but probably would have been even nicer if I had had enough yarn to do the proper matching. Lovely result for my beautiful great-nephew.

Are we having fun yet?

2008-11-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Two green sweaters, both knit on the machine, equal frustration. I love the colours of both of these sweaters. They look lovely together. Each of them is finished, to all intents and purposes. However, each has its own particular challenges. The shawl sweater is beautiful, and warm and cozy. It is too wide across the back, though, and the heads of the sleeves don't stay where they are supposed to. This makes the sweater feel like it is falling off all the time, and looks sloppy across the shoulders. A couple of potential solutions for the problem would be to take some elastic and stitch it across the inside back neck between the shoulders. This might make the sweater sit more nicely. Another possible solution is to use I-cord to draw the upper edge of the sweater in across the back of the neck.

The shell is more of a problem. There are a few ends to work in, however, the sweater is sewn up and I was able to try it on. The armholes are cut too deep, and are too loose with too much fabric above the bust at the armhole. This is a fit that is just not good enough. I don't know if I should rip it, or try to make short sleeves for it. With sleeves, the deep armholes wouldn't matter, and it might make the loose fabric above the bust less obvious. I don't mind having short sleeves, although this was intended to be a sleeveless shell. The biggest problem is that I absolutely hated working with this yarn. It is slippery, and the bouclé makes it hard to see the stitches. The rayon yarn fuzzes extremely easily, which dramatically affects the appearance of the knit fabric. Basically, while I like the colour of this top, for the amount of time and money invested already, I don't know if I like it enough to continue throwing time and money after it, particularly given how much I hated working with it. I am beginning to remember why I always hated sewing for myself.

This baby sweater is being knit for a colleague's new nephew. I love this pattern - "Little Tikes" from Interweave Knits. (Michele Rose Orne, I think, is the designer.) Hand knit, so it is taking more time than the two previous sweaters, but the problem with this one is again the yarn. Mission Falls 1824 cotton - I find it fights with me all the time and my fingers/hands hurt after a short while. I used to knit exclusively with cotton yarn, so I know it is not just the fact that this is cotton. In any case, the back and both sleeves are done, so I am on the home stretch. I will go back to my black and grey sweater when these projects are wrapped up...

Greens and blues

2008-10-05T11:54:00.001-07:00

This very easy garter stitch shawl is finally finished. I actually was frustrated with the bouclé yarn as the needle tip kept getting caught in the loops of the bouclé. It would then be a tug of war until I realised I had to give in and reinsert the needle more carefully. Of course, the rows keep getting longer, so towards the end it felt like that never ending project. I love the colourway on this one; it's called Rainforest and the yarn is by the wonderful Canadian company Fleece Artist. The yarn is incredibly soft and will be a very warm shawl for a winter evening in front of the TV.

Greensleeves

2008-09-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

Not much to look at right now, but this is a long rectangular piece of green variegated bamboo knitted with a strand of dark forest green mohair. It is softer than the proverbial baby's behind. When complete, this will be one of the shawl-sweaters with long sleeves - the armholes are being held in place by the waste yarn. I am totally in love with the colour and the feel of this sweater. It is so luxurious. Knitted on an LK 150 at SS 4, the gauge is good and big for a light, airy feel.

Sadly, the *(&%#$! tension swatch lied on this one. This is the grey and black cabled sweater from Vogue. The back is complete and I have done some on the front band - which is what tipped me off that the gauge might be off. The cables and width of this piece look considerably smaller than in the photo. I haven't done actually checked the back gauge against the pattern yet, but it looks like I might have to frog the back and start over with larger needles. Harumph. I have put it to the side for the moment and working on completing a few bits and pieces. I'm going to try and get back to this one by the weekend. Keep fingers crossed that I might be able to work with the back as it stands...

New school year, new sweater

2008-09-01T22:40:00.001-07:00

The knitting on this little multi-coloured sweater is all done, the sewing up complete, the ends worked in... and it is too small for the recipient!!!! So I have had to take out the cuffs and am going to add a few inches to the sleeve length. This won't take too long, but it is frustrating to have a project complete and then to have to take it apart again. This project has already seen repeated revisions, and one more change is almost more than I bear. I am not best satisfied with this sweater in any case. The variegated yarn is too orange for the purple and pink. However, the recipient loves it, so that is the main thing. She is going to help me pick out some buttons, then it will be her back to school sweater.
Here is the sweater I have started for myself. I have had the yarn for ages, and it has been on my Ravelry projects page since January, but I had to wait for the Ravelympics, and complete several hanging-on WIPs, before I felt caught up enough that I could cast on this one. The gauge is fairly big, so it should knit up fairly quickly, but the sewing up on it is supposed to be fairly challenging. We'll see!

Half baked

2008-08-24T18:54:00.001-07:00

This is the shawl that didn't make it over the finish line. At about 50% done, it still has a long way to go. It's warm and cozy for the cold weather we have had the last two days!

Ravelympics rock!

2008-08-23T18:15:00.001-07:00

Well, I have successfully finished three out of my four Ravelympic projects. This one I had some challenges with sewing it up. At the cast off shoulder edge, the eyes open up quite dramatically, and I had two wavy bumps in the shoulder seam the first side when I had finished sewing it up. I looked at it, contemplated options, discussed with knitting friends, and then emailed the designer - Norah Gaughan. Norah suggested that sewing them up firmly would work, as the weight of the garment would pull the seam straight. What I had sewn on the first shoulder didn't look like it would straighten out, but I thought about possibly drawing the eye together by catching only the knit stitches in the seam and pulling them up taut. That seems to have worked, although there is still a bit of a wave to the shoulder. In any case, I am very grateful to Norah for her suggestions and support.

One last project, the Fleece Artist shawl, is still on the needles. I doubt very much it will make the finish line before the deadline - which is roughly 9:00 am tomorrow morning. I have no intention of pulling an all nighter just to finish a shawl!!! I am still happy about how much I have completed though. The shawl, though not complete, has progressed a lot since the start of the Ravelympics, so all is not lost.

Sprint to the finish line

2008-08-21T18:12:00.001-07:00

Love the colour of this sweater, love the design... not so happy about the fit. I may have mentioned that I made the mistake of not reading the yarn indications on the pattern carefully enough. Debbie Bliss designed this pattern to be oversized anyway, and then wrote the instructions even larger because she was using Rowan Denim yarn and she allowed for 20% shrinkage on the final garment. Because I was knitting to the measurements, without thinking about this shrinkage factor, I have successfully created a beautiful garment that is about 6 sizes too large for the boyo. I should really rip it out, take about six inches off the length and off the sleeves, and redo the neckline. However, he will grow. We know that. He has been doing that successfully for 11 1/2 years...

Two out of four Ravelympic projects complete. The white sister sweater is ready for sewing up, and the shawl is coming along, albeit slowly. It looks like three will be complete, and possibly (fingers crossed everyone!) four!

WIPS wrestling

2008-08-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well, here is one finished object in the WIPS wrestling event for the Ravelympics! A member of Ravelry, in a tip of the hat to the Yarn Harlot, has established the Ravelympics. The idea is that you begin and complete a project during the Beijing games. However, the organizers were brilliant and also established an event wherein you could complete some of those languishing projects that have been cluttering up the work basket forever! This was perfect for me. I have entered four objects in this category: The Backyard Leaves scarf (shown above), the sister sweater (for sister's 50th birthday in March), the Stewart sweater (just needs to be sewn up!), and the Fleece Artist shawl. I have high hopes for all but the shawl. It is not a project I am enjoying working on - the needles keep getting caught in the loopy ends of the yarn. It's a very boring knit, too; straight garter stitch, with an increase at the beginning of each row.

In any case! I can excitedly jump up and down for the completion of the first WIP. This scarf was an easy knit, even though I had to concentrate on the chart a bit. The only thing I don't like, and this has been mentioned by other Ravelers, is the join at the centre back. The instructions say to knit two halves, then sew them together. Others have complained that the cast on edge is too tight, that it is hard to join them together. In fact, the problem is not that the edge is too tight, it is that there are fewer stitches here than in anywhere else in the scarf. I did a provisional cast on, then picked up the provisional cast on, plus a few more, and started knitting in the other direction once I had one side if the scarf complete. If I were to make this again, I would increase the number of stitches at the second cast on (you knit two rows, then cast on additional stitches). I would also see if it were possible to do a provisional cast on at that point, as well, so you would have two cast on edges to pick up from, and then a very small seam between, where the two extra rows met. Sounds confusing? You sort of have to know how the pattern is established...

Back to the drawing board...

2008-08-01T21:06:00.001-07:00

Did you ever have one of those projects? You know, one of those projects that no matter what you do or how careful you are, you find yourself knitting and tinking and knitting and frogging and by the time you are finally finished, you have knitted at least two complete garments with only one to show for it? Enter Lucy two. This great pattern is beautiful when knit, but it has caused me a bit of a headache. (In no way the fault of the pattern!) As I was knitting the two fronts for this sweater, I cast off a few stitches for the neck edge, and then decreased several stitches up the neck edge. just as I would do if knitting by hand. My machine knitting mentor, Joan, suggested that short rowing the neck edge would be a smoother line for the neckline and would be easier to pick up for the edging. So, when I started the backs, I thought I should try short rowing (which I had only done once before). The backs worked out beautifully and were easy to do - until I took them off the needles and realised I had forgotten to wrap the stitches and there were big holes between the rows. That's alright, I thought, I will just rip them back to the beginning of the shaping, and rehang the stitches and do it again. There's only a few rows. So, I pulled out the rows, knitted about six rows by hand in waste yarn so that I could hang the stitches, and did it again. Then I thought I had better do the same with the fronts, even though there were a few more rows to deal with. So, I ran a knitting needle through the row right before the cast off, pulled out the knitting, reknitted a few rows by hand on waste yarn, hung the stitches again and redid the necklines. When I was working on the purple front, though, I must have forgotten to place the weight near the neck edge where the short rowing was happening, and when I took it off the needles, several stitches were pulled and/or dropped. Frustrated, I put it to the side for a bit, did the sleeves, and soaked and blocked them and the one correct front. Looking at the backs, now, though, I realised that I had 27 shoulder stitches on the fronts, and 30 shoulder stitches on the backs... Yikes. So, insert knitting needle again, frog back, knit by hand, hang the stitches, redo the neck edges. Then I realised that the purple front was ok in the short row stitches! All I needed to do was the ten rows of straight knitting from the neck decreases to the shoulder. So, I inserted a knitting needle, and pulled out the offending rows. I was about to knit a few rows of waste yarn by hand, rehang the stitches on the machine, and then knit the last ten rows, when I thought, why don't I just knit the last ten rows by hand - it makes as much sense as trying to prep this for the machine. Ok, So I have all the pieces reknit, everything is looking great. I take the three pieces down to soak in the sink and bring them out to block them on the ironing board. Now, take a look at that damned purple front. Check in particular the location of the armhole and the neck edge. Do I do a good job when I decide to screw up or what?!!!

Just to show the pieces are all there! Here are the two (correctly shaped) back pieces!

Lucy too

2008-07-31T22:55:00.001-07:00

About a year ago I made a machine knit version of Holli Yeoh's pattern Lucy. I had bought the kit from her and loved the colours she had put together. The sweater turned out great and the daughter of a friend of mine really liked it. The only problem was, the sweater was size 2 and the child is about size 7... The Opal yarns I had used were no longer available, and so I started hunting for something suitable to use instead. About six months ago, I found Little Knits, an online wool shop out of Seattle. They had some Opal yarn on sale, and I found a variegated yarn with almost the same colours of pink and purple as the Opal. I had the pattern sized up to fit a seven year old child, and adapted for use on the knitting machine. And here it is! A little over a week worth of knitting (and unpicking and reknitting the mistakes) and this sweater is blocking, almost ready for sewing up. I am a bit disappointed in the variegated yarn. The pink and purple were a great match, but the yarn also has quite a bit of orange in it, which seems to dominate in the knitted up fabric. Hopefully the child will like the combinations.

Here is my version of a cabled Lucy. I used Holli's pattern as inspiration to create a cabled sweater. Love the colours in this bright cotton/bamboo sweater, but I always remember too late that I hate working with intarsia. The yarns get so tangled. So the project is moving slowly...

...And here is the finished Picovoli. I am not happy with the shoulders/sleeves. They are too big and so the armhole drops down too far. Joan, my machine knitting mentor, wants me to take it apart, redo the sleeves and the neck hem. A good idea in principle, but I don't have the energy or the motivation to take apart a completed project. This always makes me sad! This is way I never liked sewing for myself - I was never happy with the result. Well, maybe I can summon up the motivation after I complete a couple of other projects!

Almost Picovoli

2008-07-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

I love the Picovoli design by Grumperina. The fitted shaping, the picot edges and the open neckline all appeal. This was a pattern that seemed to be a good choice to try and convert to a knitting machine pattern. My machine knitting mentor, Joan Frost, has a computer programme to design patterns for the knitting machine. If you have measurements, a tension swatch, and a diagramme of what you are trying to knit, she can ask the computer to produce a pattern. So, using a lovely variegated bamboo, I have been working on this machine version of Picovoli. It is close to being done; it needs to be sewn together and then the neck edging attached. We had to make some changes; the hand knitted version is knit top down, in the round, with no seams. This machine version was knit in four pieces, bottom up. I think the final result will be quite similar to the orginal.

Learning how to read the machine knitting instructions is another thing, however. I read the instructions as: decrease one stitch every row for twenty nine rows. The instructions actually mean: decrease one stitch every twenty nine rows one time... That makes a fairly significant difference in the shaping of the garment... Sigh...

The drape of the bamboo is wonderful and I am anxious to finish up and try this on!

Lace is done!

2008-07-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

52,576 stitches. And probably another couple of thousand tinked and reknit. I never thought I could finish this as quickly as I did. Though the pattern isn't all that hard once you get it memorized, I found I was able to insert a number of unnecessary yarnovers, and skip a few here and there. It's that darn concentration aspect. I kept struggling with the diamond lace, particularly at the top and bottom borders, because it's hard to keep the diamonds straight - are you ending one pattern repeat, or in the middle of it? Is it yarnover, knit two together, or knit two together, yarnover? I finally realized that a lot of knitters wouldn't struggle with this as much as me, because most people would be sensible and use stitch markers. I disdain them. I can tell where I am in the pattern!! Why should I use stitch markers? I can count! Yes, and I can also make a lot of mistakes. Lifelines? Not for me! Did I mention I can also be an idiot?

Nevertheless, the stole is now done, complete, ready for delivery. The blocking has almost broken my back, but it is done! One word of advice to any fellow lace knitters - take off any jewelry and watches when blocking. One little catch and you've got a great big loop to deal with.

Now to enjoy summer sun and relax by the pool...

I'm knitting as fast as I can

2008-06-17T23:02:00.001-07:00

While I have done some lace knitting in a variety of projects, this is my first big lace project. The most difficult part of lace knitting is keeping track of where you are in your pattern - at least until you get enough done so that you can read your knitting. Mistakes are more challenging in lace than any other project. A simple yarn over missed is easy enough to correct, but many of the errors require you tink back carefully. My worst mistake so far in this one is that I dropped a stitch. I noticed it immediately and picked it up again - or so I thought - until I had knitted another row and discovered big strands of unattached yarn. Had to rip back about eight rows for that one. This is a shawl/scarf I am knitting for a colleague's wedding. She is being married in a Sikh temple, hence the red colour. I know that lace doesn't really look like anything until the blocking has been done, but I keep suffering pangs of doubt that this one will come out alright when it has been blocked... Some yarn overs seem so much bigger than others. Hard to keep even tension. Anyway, it is growing quite quickly, so I should be able to tell fairly soon if it will work out.

Stewart's ribbed sweater - almost done! The knitting is complete, and like an idiot I tried to sew it together without blocking it first. So now I have to take apart what I have done so far and block it before carrying on. I love the colour and the way it looks so far, though!

I'm on a roll!

2008-05-01T21:07:00.001-07:00

Finished this baby sweater two days ago and am very pleased with the way it hangs and how the collar sits. I was quite concerned about it right up until I got the buttons on, as the fabric didn't seem to have enough body to lie nicely. I also did several bits over as I really wasn't satisfied with some parts, so it took longer to finish than it otherwise might. I was frustrated while knitting a few times, and didn't think I would ever want to knit this again, but now that it is complete, I really like the finished look, so might be tempted. The pattern shows a bit of contrast trim around the edge of the collar. I didn't like the colour combination (pastel pink, baby blue, both with black trim) so decided to leave off a contrast. However, I might like it better if the contrast was picked up in more than just the one spot, and if the colours were better suited.

I also finished the Guess Who? gloves except for working in the ends - which might take a bit of doing... In any case, my goal is to get the two big sweaters (Stewart's Denim ribbed sweater and Kerry's 50th birthday sweater) that I have in the works completed before beginning anything else. (Can I do it???)

Guess who? Great gloves!

2008-04-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of almost finished gloves - thanks to a great workshop by Holli Yeoh in Vancouver on April 12. The workshop was relaxing and interesting and a good time was had by all - but most important, it showed me how to use up some of these little odds and ends of yarn that I have left over! These gloves are too small for me, but will be happy with a friend's daughter. I was intrigued by the way the yarn patterned in the ring finger - look - on one hand, the tan spirals up the finger - but on the other - it falls into vertical stripes! Must have messed with my tension as I worked. I have never seen vertical stripes like this before...

This is the little Debbie Bliss classic baby sweater appeared in Vogue Knitting a couple of seasons ago. I love the Sirdar Baby Bamboo - how soft it is and how easy to work with. I hope to have this completed within a day or two.

Good news, bad news.

2008-04-05T11:36:00.001-07:00

OK, both parts of this little project are complete, the yellow lemon stain is out of the body of the sweater and the whole thing looks very sweet. What could go wrong? Well, I didn't follow the advice of several very intelligent friends - I left the buttons on the sweater while I was soaking it in Amaze to clear off the yellow tinge. Of course, the lovely pink highlighter colour washed completely off the pink buttons, and I am left with white. I am debating whether to take the buttons off, recolour them, and then spray them with a plastic coating, or to leave them on the sweater in white. They don't look bad as white, but I just like the way the pink buttons looked on it.

I struggled with the bonnet. The pattern had a square-type back to the crown - you knit like a upside down T shape, then seam the two edges to the sides of the bonnet. That's fine, but when I put the four rows of garter stitch around the bottom, the neck edge looked too big to me. I decided to try the crown as many of the old style patterns are written - with a series of decreases across the back of the head to end with a few stitches that are drawn together. I am very happy with the result, and I love the brainstorm I had to place a ribbon rose on top of the ribbon I used for the bonnet ties. It covers up the stitching and looks very nice as an accent. I love finished objects! It gives such a sense of accomplishment.

White sweaters are a headache

2008-03-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

I love white sweaters. I hate white sweaters. I love white sweaters. I hate white sweaters... Little baby sweaters in white are so lovely. They are so clean and fresh for a new baby - except when they get dirty!!! Yikes. This sweater was going along swimmingly and at last post, I showed it wet and blocking on my ironing board. Unfortunately, I must have blocked one too many times on my ironing board, because when I got up the following morning to check the sweater, it was very definitely dry - and covered with rust stains. I think the rust is seeping up through the iron pad and into the wet fabric. I went on to the internet to try and find a cure for rust stains, and it was very easy - use lemon juice to soak the stain and then launder. I did so, and the sweater came up beautifully clean and fresh - until I finished the sleeves and put them against the sweater. The body of the sweater has turned a yellowish tinge from the lemon juice. What a headache. So now the options are to lemon juice stain the sleeves and border or to try to soak it in a mild bleach solution. But I've already got the pink flowers on - so it would have to be a bleach for unbleachables. Any suggestions are welcome.

Once I got the sweater assembled, I went to choose buttons. There were three possibilities - none of them exactly right. There were some little pink ones that were too shiny, some round ball-shaped pearl white ones, and some little translucent, matte finished white ones. I liked the matte finish of the translucent ones, but I wanted pale pink. So, I bought them, brought them home and coloured them with a pink highlighter. I am really pleased with the effect - and hope that the pink doesn't run in the wash!!! Actually, I don't think it will, because I tested them by running them through some water. I've got some pink ribbon for the bonnet - but the bonnet has yet to be cast on.

Stewart's ribbed sweater is making slow progress. The back is done, and the sleeves are half done. This sweater is really oversized, however I should have read the instructions more carefully, as the yarn used in the pattern has a shrinkage factor - which was built into the measurements. I am thinking I will cut the sleeves down a bit, so that he can actually wear the sweater this year - but not too much because it will be great to have a sweater to last him for a while.

Baby sweaters are so fast

2008-03-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

that I didn't even see this one coming! How could I have three projects started and then cast on this one, I don't know. Anyway, I cast on this lovely little white sweater Monday night, and since the back and fronts are knit together, it is more than halfway done. I has little pink ribbon roses to be attached in the centre of the 'v's, and the finished effect will be very delicate and sweet. Two sleeves and a bonnet to go - should be finished soon as I am on Spring Break.

I haven't neglected the other projects, though. Well, one other project shows progress anyway. Stewart's green ribbed sweater now has a VERY large back. This is an oversized pattern, but I think this sweater will fit him when he is 16! I love the way it feels and hangs. He is liking it, too.

We have just come home from a trip to Victoria to visit Grandma, and I managed to convince her that she was knitting too many socks. She was coerced into knitting the lovely little bumble bee bootees that I had purchased the yarn for. These are for her great grandson, Sweet Baby James. I knitted the edge around the ankle, but that is all I can lay claim to in this project. The colour of the yellow in these bootees is much brighter than shown in the image. It is almost an orange - very vibrant with the black. Mom found it very hard to see the stitches in the black yarn, much as Holli mentioned in a recent post...

So, sleeves await me. White baby sweater sleeves and green ribbed sweater sleeves. I like sleeves. They go faster than backs. :)

Spring fever

2008-03-02T14:10:00.001-08:00

That has to be it. Otherwise, how can I explain three new projects that just happened? And yarn for a fourth? Yikes. Take a look at my backyard leaves scarf. It is almost halfway done. For each half, you knit eleven repeats and I have nine repeats done. Yahoo. the colour in this photo is off. I took the shot without flash so as to be able to see the stitch definition, and the colour came out much too blue. The actual colour is closer to a dark Kelly green. I don't like how heavy this yarn is. I would definitely choose a lighter weight yarn if I were to knit this again. A yarn like, for example... this stunning Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool that I purchased to make a ribbed sweater for Stewart. I love the feel and the drape of this yarn. It is linen-like and yet soft. Stewart chose the colour himself, so I hope he will like the end product.

Then, I had this Goldielocks yarn from Fleece artist. It is a lace weight, and I thought I would try out some lace patterns and make a shawl with it. I found, however, that the locks on the yarn make it difficult to see the pattern in the knitting, so in the end, have decided to simply knit the garter stitch shawl included in the ball band. It is knitted on 6mm needles, so the overall effect will be lacy and light anyway.

Green for spring. Nice, n'est-ce pas? Ok, Ok, so I also purchased some baby Bamboo from Sirdar to make the lovely little baby cardigan in Vogue Knitting (Spring 2007?). Yes, I have my work cut out for me for the spring.

Curious Oliphaunt

2008-02-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

Stewart loves his new Oliphaunt. Just finished, we thought he looked like he was asking a question when he has his head tilted to the side a little bit, so Stewart decided he would be "curious Oliphaunt". I am particularly happy with his eyes. I found some of the black Zephyr left over from the Kitri socks, and lo and behold, there were still some beads strung on it! So I decided to try and integrate a bead for each eye, and make his eyes look a bit more interesting. While this was a fairly easy knit, I am still not crazy about knitting stuffed animals. I don't like the finishing, trying to hide ends inside a body and not sure if the ends will stay afixed. I did change the ears for this guy - several people had done knitted ears rather than the crocheted ears called for in the pattern. While I can crochet, I just didn't like the way the ears were turning out when I crocheted. I thought the knitted ears looked better. With his big floppy ears, he is definitely an African elephant!

Moving along to my next project, I decided to cast on Annie Modesitt's Backyard Leaves scarf instead of beginning the grey sweater for me. Numerous reasons for this, but I am not unhappy to put the sweater on hold for a bit. The backyard leaves pattern is beautiful and fairly easy to follow, except you have to be right on top of the pattern all the time. No watching TV and knitting on this one. This will probably become less critical as I knit a few repeats and get the pattern down pat. Anyway, love the pattern and the colour of the yarn. I'm thinking ahead to spring...

St Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T20:27:00.001-08:00

I have never been too keen on the idea of knitting stuffed toys, but when Stewart asked me to make him this cute little elephant it was hard to say no. The designer created this elephant in striped colours, but Stewart decided on this bright variegated yarn. It needs ears, a tail and embroidered eyes, but the bulk of the work is done and Stewart likes the way he looks so far. Thanks, Julie, for showing us your Oliphaunt and inspiring me to create one for my boy. A great way to celebrate Valentine's Day - making something that he will love!

This is a good point to mention how much I am enjoying Ravelry. I found Julie and her Oliphaunt on Ravelry and I am spending time (that could probably be better spent knitting - or - perish the thought - doing housework) looking at peoples' projects and oohing and aahing over the beautiful yarns that are available. A great time waster...

Geometry and colour

2008-02-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

I always did love geometry. However, I am reminded once again that I don't like colourwork (either Fair Isle or intarsia). I know, I know, you are supposed to turn the needle carefully back and forth as you work, and one row you cross the yarns and the next row you untangle them. That's fine in principle, but I always end up with a tangle to sort out anyway. I hate tangled yarn. So this project kept being put back in the basket while I got on with other things. Result was that I lost my tension control (or switched needles - who knows?) and the front and back tensions don't match. It has reiterated once again for me that I need to be a one project knitter. Well, this little sweater is not my best work. I should probably have taken the thing apart early on and started again, but as it was not a project I was enjoying too much, I couldn't face doing it a second time. The result is not too bad, considering that I was so frustrated a few times. The bonus is that my backlog is now clear (except for the bark pattern sweater), so I can begin a new project. Wish me luck!

Duck feet

2008-01-25T17:55:00.000-08:00

Whenever I say Duck Feet in my head, my brain goes to that old commercial for a seafood restaurant (can't remember the name) where the ditty was "Who's got crab legs?" I hear the tune and I see those silly feet in my head. But just look at these little cuties! One more finished object for the files. Stewart and I are so excited because we are going to Chilliwack tomorrow to see new baby boy and gift him with these latest projects - the duck feet booties and the new fuzzy white and blue sweater. Hope he stays small long enough to get some wear out of them!

I almost have my knitting basket up to date now. Just the little purple and green cable sweater to finish and then the only unfinished project I will have will be Kerry's Norah Gaughan sweater. That one I had already decided to put to the side for a while, so I should be clear to start a new project!! Excitement and drum roll, please! Next up is the two tone grey cable front sweater in Vogue knitting (Fall 06?, maybe). Looking forward to it!

Haste makes waste

2008-01-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

Never get too cocky with your knitting. This project is a pure case in point. Having knitted this sweater recently, I thought it would be a no brainer to knit again... HA! First problem was that I forgot which knitting needles I used last time. And since the nature of this yarn is such that it is virtually impossible to see the individual stitches, counting them to see if you have gauge is quite the challenge. After three false starts and three different needle sizes, I switched back to the initial needles I tried, only to figure out when the sweater was partially done that this time the sweater was considerably smaller than last time. Since baby is already here, I decided to press on, and simply have a smaller size - however, that means that speed is even more of the essence as wee boy is growing daily, naturally... I was trying to adapt this sweater for a boy. The original sweater, done with pink and green trim, is very clearly girlish, but I thought that with blue trim and some minor adaptations, I could make this suitable for my new grand-nephew. I do like the blue, and I decided to do less of the shell crochet for the edging, since that seemed frillier. I like that look. However, the embroidery on knitted fabric remains a huge pain, and I started the sleeve embroidery at least three times in an effort to get it to look right. I thought a wave pattern, instead of zig zags would look nice in the blue. I do like the results, but this came at a price. It took easily twice as long to do the embroidery and the crocheted edgings as it took to knit all four pieces - and I took out the bootees and did them a second time. (Too big first time around.) One innovation I am pleased with is that I took some iron on interfacing (very soft) and placed it where the embroidery was going to go. This made it easier to set the stitches where I wanted them, and I was also able to draw directly onto the interfacing so I could see where I would be stitching. All in all, this helped, but it was still a fairly time intensive project for what is, after all, a very easy knit. Hope that it is appreciated, and will still fit baby boy for a little while, anyway!

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T22:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it is nice to finish out the year with a photo of a finished object (there are still projects in the wings, but hey, let's celebrate the small victories!). Only one sock is showing here as this photo was taken at the airport in Houston on our way home from a week on a cruise. My niece Jennifer is the recipient (and Harry Potter fanatic) and she is modelling and displaying the sock here for out viewing pleasure. The first sock is packed somewhere in her bags as she actually received it on time - Christmas day... What can I say? We were all laughing at the fact that this, the second sock, was begun the night before the flight left for our vacation and was unaccountably narrower than its fraternal twin. Could it be that the stress of vacation messed with my tension just a little??? In fact, our trip down was harrowing and exhausting - delays at every step of the journey. Not surprising that the tension shifted. A perfectionist would have frogged the whole thing and started again. However this sometime perfectionist had to get the socks finished before we came home, and they will both still go on her feet.

So pleased to report that Jennifer, along with her sister Kirsten and Stewart participated in the Harry Potter trivia quiz aboard ship. After correcting the judge on his pronunciation of J.K. Rowling's name, and asking for clarification as to whether he was referring to the British or the American version of the film of book one, HP and the Philosopher's Stone, it became rather obvious who was a front runner to win - and indeed they did win, missing only one question, and that by only a small error! Yes, these socks knew who they were destined for - the greatest HP geek on the planet. So a little Weasley error like differing tension on the two socks is no big deal. :)

Happy New Year!

Gryff 'n' Dor

2007-12-02T09:09:00.001-08:00

These lovely little mittens are winging their way east to the Bronx. Our Knitting Guild sends mittens to a kindergarten class in the Bronx, and for my pair, I decided to use some leftover yarn from the famous Quidditch sweater and build some Harry Potter mittens. Gryff and Dor are red and gold coloured mittens in honour of Harry's house, Gryffindor! Very easy to make, I whipped these out over a weekend and am very happy with the way they look. I tried to figure out how to do a jogless round with the colours as I changed colours; it is not perfect, but I managed to get the colours somewhat aligned. Though I like knitting in the round, this is one drawback that has always frustrated me. The magical mittens should be cosy; they are made with superwash wool, and doubled yarn for extra thickness. Hope they go over well in New York!

Kate Gilbert is a very talented Canadian designer of knitwear and this little sweater, which she called the Pea Pod sweater, is absolutely adorable. My mother will be horrified at the choice of colour for a baby, but I think it is charming. The leaf detail on the sweater is lovely and I think the off-centre closing is so creative. The buttons I chose reminded me of the shape of a pea pod, and I tried to alternate the direction they lay as I sewed them on down the front. Like all buttons, however, they have some wiggle room, and don't stay neatly aligned where I placed them.

I made the little beanie to match, and searched through Zoe Mellor's bootees book to try and find a bootee that might look good with the sweater. I found one with a leaf design on it, and was going to make it, but then realized that I could make the bootee and place the leaf design on the legging part. Topped off with a band of the distinctive ribbing, the bootees look like they were designed to match. They just need some stitching up and then a length of ribbon to tie at the ankle and the set will be ready to go. Most of Zoe's bootees are designed to be knit flat and then sewn up. I understand that you have to start flat, but I reasoned that once you got to the leg part there is no reason why you can't begin knitting in the round. So, once I knit the sole and the ribbon eyelets, I transferred the stitches onto DPNs and joined the bootee together at the back of the ankle. I like the look of it much better when there is no seam on the back of the leg. Take a look at the detail on the lace leaf band; isn't it beautiful?

Armistice Day, Martha Stewart and winter coats

2007-11-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

OK, so Armistice Day (or Remembrance Day) is of course significant to the world at large, but I have never thought of it as anything more than a day of remembrance (and a bonus day off!). Apparently, however, my aunt thinks of Armistice Day as the day you make your Chirstmas Cakes. Not wanting to mess with what has obviously become a tradition, my sister decided that yesterday was a good day to try out her new Martha Stewart recipe for Christmas Cake. One pound of butter and five eggs... wow it had better be good. (Actually, I personally don't even really like Christmas Cake, but that's another story.) So Stewart and I hopped into the car yesterday morning and headed for Chilliwack to visit and see if we could help out.

Turns out, the best way I can help is by cutting out my niece's winter coat (on the floor, no less - my sister lives in a 500 sq ft appt with no kitchen table) and instructing my niece in the importance of measuring to the selvedge to ensure your garment will lie on the straight of the grain. I had received the fuzzy impression that this coat was a two piecer with sleeves - so I blithely told Taryn we'd have it whipped out in 20 minutes. In fact, it is a princess seamed coat with two-piece sleeves; ok so 20 minutes was a bit optimistic.

Kerry fed us a wonderful vegetarian lunch (spicy peanut butter soup and killer black bean dip with whole wheat chips) and we all settled down to work, Taryn and I on the sewing project while Kerry and Taryn's boyfriend, Matt, worked on creaming the butter in the food processor. Alas, Taryn is also a student with exams and papers to write, so she and Matt abandoned us early on in the endeavour. Matt's last task was to turn on the oven to 300 degrees. Fahrenheit or Celcius, they joked... Once the infamous cakes were mixed and divided into two loaf pans, we popped them into the oven for the 1 hour and 15 minutes specified by the recipe...

"Are these golden brown?" Kerry enquires of me as she pulls them out of the oven. Look good to me, I reply. The toothpick test reveals completely doughy loaves, however. We return them to the oven for another five minutes (Hey we were optimistic!), and it quickly becomes clear that five minutes does not have a hope of helping these beasts. Fifteen minutes later, still no go. Another half hour, Kerry bravely suggests. Still no go. Another fifteen minutes and Kerry takes them out, and tests them one more time. Still not perfect, but she had had enough. The liberal sprinkling of sherry over the next several weeks will take care of any lingering problems, I am sure. This is the point I found out it was a Martha Stewart recipe - hey Kerry! I said - the yarn harlot had problems with a Martha baking recipe just a little while ago! We sat down and read and laughed at the challenges.

On a knitting note, I managed to line up Taryn and Kerry together and take a picture of the finished Pomatomus socks and the finished Kitri socks - looking good!

Here is the update on Kerry's Norah Gaughan sweater. Still needs a long way to go, but it's past the halfway mark. The second sleeve is coming along slowly, but surely. I took these shots without flash on this gorgeous sunny day, because I notived that the flash is burning out all the knit detail. I love the way this undulating bark pattern looks, but am not crazy about all the 'knitting into back of stitch' that I have to do for it.

Finally, here is the update on the wee dark purple baby sweater I have been working on. Again, not too much progress, but life is like that sometimes...

Ah! How weary is this workaday world...

2007-09-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, three weeks since I posted and all I can think of is I have no finished objects to show and I have not followed through on plan A: to complete the projects on the list of UFOs and to do a sleeve for Kerry's sweater. I have, however, purchased some (eek pricey) yarn for a sweater for me, and some more Orsetto to make another white baby sweater - this time with trim in blues. I feel exactly how the Yarn Harlot must feel when she eyes her basket of overflowing projects and cannot remain true to any one of them... the very flimsy excuse of returning to school occurs to me, but it is not worthy of me to plead working full time. I made a committment to follow through, now let's see were I got to... Devan sweater, check. Lucy sweater, check. Pomatomus socks? Oh, look, second sock 3/4 of the way done! Yay!

Crazy scarf, check!! Wow, three out of four, so far. Purple multi-directional scarf? Hey, was that lightening? Did you hear that thunder? No? Hm, I could have sworn... Where were we? Oh yes, sleeve for sister's sweater. I'm sure that was lightening. It was hailing in Surrey, today, did you know?

Ahem. Did you ever see anything so cute as duck booties? How could I resist? I just received Zoë Mellor's Fifty Baby Booties to knit and it is full of too cute to resist booties.

And look, the back of the dark purple sweater is complete - only the front and two sleeves to go!

Now to quit messing about on the computer and get back to the needles, and maybe I'll have something to post about!

A room of one's own

2007-08-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

Sneak peak at the completed Lucy!

During the 70's, in my idealistic youth, I subscribed to the feminist literary publication, A room of one's own. The title, I believe, came from Virginia Woolf's assertion that in order to write successfully, a woman needed a room of her own (and money - critical!). The review featured unknown authors - it gave women a venue for their writing which did not previously exist. I was reminded this morning of what I read during that era, and why I read it, during an interview I was listening to on CBC. Connie Watson, of The Current, was interviewing Katie Roiphe, Cathi Hanauer, and Leanne Delap on the topic of "mommy lit", which has evolved from the genre "chick lit". Roiphe is scathing in her assessment of this genre; she believes that the romanticization of the 'stay-at-home-mum' harbours a political agenda of a return to the values of the 50s, wherein women would be financially dependent, once again, upon their husbands. Hanauer was critical more of the quality of the writing than of the content of the genre, and Delap felt that the portrayals of the difficulties of parenthood were not overdrawn. Bear in mind, while reading my thoughts, that I have not actually read a novel of this genre.

I must say that my initial reaction to Roiphe's comments was anger and indignation. This was not due to the suggested political agenda, but because of the subtext of her arguments; that is, that for a woman to be of value, she must be employed outside the home. Recently, I have been reflecting on our society's values, and what the measure of success is. Most equate success with financial success, or fame. There is little room in this schema for a woman who chooses to stay at home with her children and participate fully in their childhood. One can argue, of course, that a life lived vicariously through one's children is the reflection of the children's success, rather than the parent's own success. However, I don't believe that. I believe that our children are a very precious resource, and we value far too little the caregivers that are raising them, be they mothers, fathers, or childcare workers. That being said, I have never had the financial independence to allow me to stay at home with my own child. I don't feel guilty for that; it was a financial neccessity. I also would have stayed home with him if it had been possible. But here's the rub. Those women who do have the financial independence to make the choice to stay home with their children almost all experience that financial independence at a cost, being financially dependent on a spouse. And yes, here we are, back at Roiphe's concern over the political agenda.

Once I had done my oh, so circular reasoning and concluded that Roiphe is right on target, I began to think about that romanticized vision, the Cinderella story, the Pretty Woman story. I have become increasingly concerned over the last few years about the number of young female colleagues who continue to embrace that vision in both subtle and blatant ways. Did the 70s actually happen? I sometimes find myself wondering. Maybe it's time to start raising a few consciousnesses again. Maybe it's time to start reading 'A Room of one's own' again.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blog...

Here is the completed view of the Lucy sweater. The colours on this one are so vibrant! I chose some little iridescent buttons that pick up the pink beautifully. The finishing took longer than planned. I had some repairs to do once I discovered I had put the buttonhole band on the wrong side - see! I am prejudging that this should definitely be a girl sweater!!! I had also picked up too many stitches and the band went all wobbly. This was because though the tension on the machine was almost spot on, I had not actually knitted enough rows in the body of the sweater. It's all right, though, as I simply made the button bands a little smaller and it looks fine.

And here's a peek at what is on the needles right now. I am knitting an old pattern I have done before in cotton. The first time I did it, though, I used navy blue, hot pink, bright jade green and purple. This one, though the purple is very dark, seems somewhat bland in comparison. I don't think there is enough contrast in the colours to make it jump out at you. However, it is an easy knit and the colours work well enough together to make a nice looking sweater.

On the needles: Lucy

2007-08-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

OK. Here's the thing. I love these two kits from Bees Knees Knits. I showed you the completed Devan sweater last post, and I really love the way it turned out. But here's me with this completion stress and there is that other sweater in sock gauge yarn and I have to go back to work in a week and... Besides, I have been wanted to try out my knitting machine. Well, it has been fun, but I have made tons of mistakes, and the machine has screwed up a few times too. There seems to be a disproportionate amount of time dedicated to correcting mistakes as opposed to the amount of time it takes to knit 60 rows. I suppose that is the price you have to pay.

In any case, each mistake I made has been a learning experience and I now understand my machine a lot better. I would still like to take some lessons to learn all the ins and outs of machine knitting, but I'm happy with the progress I have made so far. Increasing, decreasing, casting off. All are now under my belt. I was going to try to figure out how to do intarsia knitting for the back (there are two different colour blocks on the back), but when I saw how invisible a seam mattress stitch makes, I decided to knit the two back pieces separately and then stitch them together. I will put them back on the machine at the end to do the roll up hem in pink. Finishing by hand will take the same amount of time, but that's ok.

Completed so far: two fronts, one half of the back, and the other half mostly done still on the machine. The sleeves will be a bit trickier as I have to increase every four rows, but it is amazing that, even with all the mistakes, I should have completed all the pieces for this sweater in about 3 days!

Best mistake: After carefully removing a piece of knitting from the machine, pulling back a couple of rows to the mistake, and then painstakingly replacing each stitch on its needle, I realized I had the carriage on the wrong side of the knitting. Well, that's ok, I thought, there's no yarn in the carriage yet, so I will just slide the carriage to the other side and then add the yarn and carry on knitting. I moved the carriage over - and - all the knitting fell off the needles on to the floor!

Off the needles: Devan!

2007-08-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, even when I have seen a sample of a sweater made up, or photos of the completed object, but I can never get the "finished picture" in my brain from looking at the different pieces. The finishing completely changes the look of any individual piece for me, moving it from two dimensions into three. I always experience a wonderment when the garment is complete, assembled and all the ends are worked in. (Even if I hide the ends from view, I get a different feeling from the garment - weird, I know). So, Saturday, I used the three needle bindoff to join the shoulders, then worked on the button band. I don't like picking up stitches, not because it is difficult or challenging, but because I don't feel I do a good job of it. This garment was a bit challenging on the first edge, because I couldn't get the number of stitches right. Next time I do this, I think I will do as I saw suggested somewhere; divide the edge up into even sections with strands of yarn, and calculate how many stitches need to go in each section. That way the distribution of stitches is even. I started to sew the seams, and though I used my usual backstitch for the sleeve to shoulder assembly, for the underarm and side seam I used mattress stitch as specified by the pattern. I had never tried it before, because I couldn't conceive of holding the two pieces together and stitching at the same time. (I have always used pins to hold the seams together.) In any case, I am very impressed with the way the seam turned out! Today I found some little abalone buttons that set off the colour really well, and attached them and the label Holli included in the kit. Voilà!

I include the back view because I really like the little contrast detail on the back. It is now blocking again, very slightly, to take the shape of the shoulders.

The Pomatomus sock is advancing slowly; I have about two inches done. I am in a conundrum, though. I realized, as I was doing this sock, that I had not knit two together through the back of loops for the first sock when I was decreasing. I like the way the sock looks, but I like the way it looks done correctly even more. What do I do? I am damn well not going to take the first sock apart and redo it. I ahave tried to do the second sock with the incorrect stitch, but it looks so much better the right way! I am tempted to do it correctly and see if anyone notices!!! However, I have put it down for the moment while I mull it over. I have purchased some new cotton to make another little baby sweater, and am tempted to cast that on while noone is looking...

Halcyon days

2007-08-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

Cousins, aunts, and uncles came together on this unique Gulf island to reconnect and relax for the day. Oh, yes, and to eat. Food by the bushel was available - I know, as we were still eating leftovers for days! Some chatted on the porch, some beachcombed, others picked blackberries and wandered across the fields. Overall, though, it was a relaxing and fun-filled day.
Checking out old family photos in the album.
Serving liquid refreshment...
Waiting by the dock for the water taxi to take them home. Saying goodbye.
Dabbling feet in the water - what a great way to spend an August afternoon!

Once the majority of the guests had left via water taxi for Sidney or Ganges, sister Kerry, son Stewart and I stayed on for a few days. There's a beautiful little log cabin overlooking the bay where the dock is; cold running water, propane stove (coffee and tea in the morning!) and a kitchen fully stocked with dishes, pots, utensils, etc., were the luxuries of our visit. The outhouse - not so much - but we spent the majority of our time at the main house or helping on the farm, so that was a minor inconvenience!
And look! You can knit looking out over the incredibly beautiful view!

What is there to do on an island farm? Fill and transfer feed bags for the sheep. Check the water supply for the animals. Load lumber for transfer. Build a rope swing in the barn (should have taken a picture of that one!) Weed the vegetable garden. Feed the animals. Bring in the hay (a huge job that was completed before we arrived!). Actually, the work is never ending and our small contribution was but a drop in a vast bucket. Feeding the animals was Stewart's favourite thing. This is Bobby, one of two calves being hand fed.

My father's older sister, aunt Jean, is the reason my sister and I felt like this island was a home away from home when we were younger. We spent many a day visiting and helping on the farm during spring breaks and summer holidays.

Sheep! Yes, this island is a sheep farm! (OK, they raise cattle, too, but how many knitters are interested in cattle??) Apparently, there are two years worth of fleece in the barn because they have missed the shipment date to the Wool co-op back in Ontario. I am tempted to try my hand at spinning... Except there is already no room in my house - where would I possibly put a spinning wheel? I also tried to convince my cousins that they should try distributing their own hand spun wool - but that was met with subtle resistance. Could it possibly be that they already have enough to do on the farm? Could it have anything to do with the fact that washing and preparing the fleeces for spinning is such a labour intensive job? The saddest part of this story for me is that, even though hand dyed and hand spun wool demands such a lovely price in the wool shop, the sheep farmers see very little of that money. Understandably, the labour involved in prepping, dying and spinning is what drives the cost, but it seems a shame that the raw material is of so little value that two years' worth sitting in the barn makes no difference to the economy of the farm.

Finally, in knitting news: I have completed all the pieces for the little green sweater Devan. The final piece is now drying and I will piece it together and do the finishing once it is dry. I have started work on the second Pomatomus sock, but there is less than an inch on the needles. However! I have completed the crazy, mad katerpillar scarf. I have discovered that the extremely loose cast on, that I thought was not loose enough, was in fact too loose! I also had some difficulty with ensuring that each row had at least 10" left for the fringe when I got to the end of the row. This may have had something to do with the varying tension of the different weights of yarn. In any case, I have completed it and have given it to cousin Barbara. I am now waiting for a photo of her wearing this elegant scarf while out feeding the sheep...
Kerry and Barbara modeling the creation.

A treasure or two

2007-08-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

©Betty Ruth Emmons

What a joy when your passions bring you into contact with new people who have similar interests! I met Y at Wool and Wicker, my LYS, where she works a couple of days a week. She is always so excited to see new projects and encouraging to knitters. When I joined the West Coast Knitters' Guild, I found she was also a member, and this week she showed us these stunningly beautiful dolls she had crafted. I love the knitted garments they are clothed in - in fact Mitocho Girl is knitting her own outfit as she sits! Ah, yes, Mitocho. Short for Mitochondria. Very small parts of our cell structure - have their own DNA. Meg battled for Charles Wallace's Mitchondria in Madeleine L'Engle's A wind in the door. Isn't that a fabulous reference for this whimsical pair? Y told me the materials these two are made of, but I forget the name of the substance. However, it will harden and they will be as strong as garden statues, able to withstand the weather. Thanks to Y for sharing her art.

Stewart and I are off to the Gulf Islands for a few days. Family reunion and then we will be staying on in the log cabin for a small holiday. No power, so no blogging until we get back...

Works in progress

2007-08-09T10:54:00.001-07:00

OK, so technically, I still have five projects (oops, I mean six) here that are incomplete. But I can explain, really, I can. I'm actually only working on two, right now. So why are the others in the Works in Progress category? Well, because they are sort of started or partway done... Here, look. This lovely Devan sweater is by Vancouver designer Holli Yeoh. You should check out her website, www.beeskneesknits.ca. Cool sweaters for little kids. This has been my main project since the Quidditch sweater - actually, it was interrupted to knit the quidditch sweater! In any case, I met Holli at the Saxe Point knitout and fell in love with the little sweaters she had on display, and ordered two kits. They are easy in stockinet stitch, except the yarn used is sock yarn, so the gauge is very fine and takes quite a while to knit. The designs are really enhanced with Holli's wonderful use of colour and the self-patterning sock yarns. Devan is pictured here with one front, one sleeve and the back partially done. I am now working on the last piece before assembly, so I'm in the home stretch. Lucy, the second kit I ordered from Holli, is not technically on the needles yet. I have shown it here with the colours of yarn and the pattern on my knitting machine. As I was working on Devan, I thought this would be a perfect match to work on the machine. So I have swatched a bit and played with it a bit on the machine. I am not happy with it yet, but it is still a possiblity to do on the machine. The main concern I have is for trying to do the two colours on the back. My machine has the possibility to work with two colours at once, but they are all in fair isle-type patterns. I think I have an idea for how to do it, and will try it out when Devan is finished.

Ha! I showed you this before, on the scarf post! Yes, it is the other project that is technically "on the go" at the moment. I haven't worked on it a lot since starting Devan, but it is an easy knit to pick up and do a little bit on now and again. And here is another scarf that I tried to start... but am having a few technical difficulties. Cool kit, isn't it? I bought at Saxe Point knitout, as well, from a woman who runs the knitting shop on Quadra Island. Don't know if the shop is called Fun with Knits, or just the website, but anyway, this scarf kit was kind of funky and looked easy. It's just straight garter stitch, after all! What could be hard about that? Well, the problem is that you cast on lengthwise, v-e-r-y l-o-o-s-e-l-y, leaving about 10" at the beginning for the fringe, and supposedly having about 10" at the other end left over - well, even though I cast on as loosely as I could, I still have more than a yard left over at the end. Well, minor challenge. I am going to ask my mother, the queen of loose knitting, to try the cast on for me, then we'll see how it goes. Should be a one evening deal once the cast on is complete.

Here is a cool sock that I made for my niece, Taryn. It's the Pomatomus sock by Cookie A.; you can find the pattern on the Knitty.com site. I love the way the pattern is pointy and curvy at the same time, and the beautiful Fleece Artist sock wool in Pinata colourway really sets off the pattern well. The only thing I didn't like about this pattern is that it is, again, in twisted rib! Arrrrggghhh! This is a project on hiatus right now - I originally put it to the side because I wanted to make sure the first sock fit, and then I thought it would be better to wait to cast on the next sock until one of the other projects is finished. See? I really do like to work one thing at a time!

Last, but not least, a beautiful Norah Gaughan design from the Fall '91 Vogue Knitting, in Philosopher's Wool yarn. I am making this sweater for my sister's fiftieth birthday, started over a year ago. While the photo shows only the back as complete, I have now finished one sleeve, as well, so it is half done! (And we've still got two years before the 50th birthday!) Another project in hiatus for the moment; however, I was very disciplined and didn't start my knitting rampage earlier this year until I had completed the sleeve. I think once the other projects in this post are complete, I will do another sleeve before I tackle anything else... Wish me luck!

Process vs product

2007-08-08T12:23:00.001-07:00

I guess I have always known I was a product knitter. One of the things I have always loved about knitting is that there is an end point, and a finished product. Unlike housework, or say, teaching, where you just have to keep doing it over and over, and sometimes it feels like you have nothing to show for it, knitting has that very satisfying sense of accomplishment when you complete a project. Don't get me wrong - I am well aware of the myriad joys and celebrations of teaching - but often teaching successes are transitory and you have to begin again the next day - or the next period! It feels like - and rightly so - a never ending task. So, generally, my knitting history has been one project, work it through, complete, begin a different project. Like people who read several different books at a time, I couldn't understand why one would have several different projects on the go at a time. This was true for me of sewing, as well, though I don't sew much anymore. (Knitting is so much more portable!) Of course, there have been exceptions, but in general, one project on the needles at a time. My stash reflects this habit - I don't have a large stash, and most of the yarn in it is leftover from completed projects rather than anticipatory skeins for projects down the road a ways.

So, this year, something strange happened to me. It coincided with discovering the blog of that ultimate of enablers, the Yarn Harlot. From her site, I started exploring knitting blogs and knitting patterns online, and discovered the wealth of creativity and projects out there - not that I didn't have a wealth of pattern books here at home and ideas from the LYS, but the inspiration of seeing what others are doing has a powerful effect. I started one project, then another, then another, til all of a sudden I had about five on the needles at once. Yikes! At first, it was very satisfying, exploring all these different patterns at once, but fairly soon, the anxiety factor started slipping in... Completion! When was I going to get these things finished? Well, if you have read any of the preceding entries on the blog, you realize that I did indeed get things completed, and several of them, as well, but it has been a learning experience for me. I do enjoy the process of knitting. I do enjoy experimenting with different patterns and techniques. But what I still like best is that feeling of accomplishment when a project is finished and can be gifted.

I have grown, though. I am now more comfortable with having more than one project in the works at once, but I know that I will likely have only two or three going at one time, and that one will generally predominate until it is finished. Tomorrow, I will show what is in progress right now, and what is waiting to be worked on... In the meantime, one photo for today: in keeping with the concept of teaching, here is Stewart learning how to knit. He asked me to teach him when I was working on his quidditch sweater. This is going to be a bookmark, if it ever sees completion!

Baby blanket

2007-08-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to think what other projects I have completed this year. This baby blanket is the only one I can come up with. I knitted it for the daughter of a friend; baby Melissa was born in May and the blanket was completed and given a couple of months ago. These photos show the work in progress. The yarn I used, Kelly, is a cotton/acrylic blend for easy care, and I loved the way the colours blended on the ball. That's why I took these photos with the ball on top of the blanket; I was really disappointed with the way the blended effect disappeared into stripiness on the blanket. The lace pattern was adapted from an afghan pattern in The pattern companion: Knitting. The pattern was an easy knit, quickly memorized and it grew quickly on the larger needles.

Tomorrow, product vs process!

Scarves...

2007-08-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last summer, I was madly knitting scarves for the homeless. The instructors and Grand Master's wife of my sons martial arts class were spearheading a project for a local charity. Their goal was, I believe, 500 scarves. I knit several that were simply 2 X 2 rib, fast and easy. While yarn shopping, I saw this beautiful multi-directional scarf at my LYS. It is made from Trekking, and the variegation of the yarn really makes the triangles stand out. I love the colours and the way it shifts from shade to shade. Originally, I intended to keep this scarf, but my coat is navy with purple/green and the scarf just doesn't go with it... So my sister lucked out and acquired it!

I didn't really plan on doing any more scarf knitting, but when I was at the Saxe Point knitout in June, I saw some lovely Noro yarn in purples/greens. (Just shortly after seeing the yarn, niece Jennifer told me she loved anything purple...) Well, I hadn't planned anything specific for the yarn, but one day when I was between projects, I thought I would try out the Noro, and it just sort of came together as a scarf... I love the colours in this yarn, as well, but I do not enjoy knitting with it. I have found that I do not like knitting with yarn that is uneven in texture. This yarn has some extremely chunky spots, and some very fine spots. In any case, the overall effect is quite nice, and Jen may end up with a scarf for fall. (If she is lucky, and if she ever decides to read my blog and comment...)

Socks!

2007-08-02T10:59:00.001-07:00

While I have knitted a pair of socks before, I have mainly concentrated on knitting sweaters in my knitting life. Lately, there has been such a buzz about socks, I decided to go with the flow... Actually, these blue socks I decided to make because my son was going on a skiing trip to Manning Park in March. I wanted him to have a pair (or two) of wool socks to keep his feet warm. He has a tendency to feel cold all the time, and I wanted him to enjoy his time outdoors in the snow. Because I hadn't knitted socks from the toe up, I tried one pair cuff down and the other pair toe up. The wool I used, Trekking, was mostly wool with some bamboo. There was enough for the two pair of socks, but just barely; the second pair was slightly shorter than the first pair - I was afraid of running out.

I love these beautiful Kitri socks. I ordered the kit from the designer, the Tsock Tsarina. The socks themselves were not that difficult to knit, once I got over the initial struggle with fine yarn and sorting out the pattern. I hate knitting behind, though, and this pattern was full of twisted stitches. Nevertheless, I got the two socks done fairly easily once over the initial hurdle. The challenge came when I tried to knit the beaded lace cuff. First, I picked up all the stitches at the top of the sock from the provisional cast on and then cast on the lace stitches. Working at 90 degrees to the body of the sock, you knit one row, then pick up a sock stitch, and go around the top of the sock, picking up one at a time. Either I hadn't read the instructions carefully, or had misunderstood them, because working with six needles getting in your way is a prime pain. Finally, I figured out that I should place the sock stitches on a length of waste yarn, and only have two needles to work with. Much easier. However, now I discovered that the black Zephyr was very challenging to tink, so as I was learning the lace pattern and making mistakes, I found it necessary to unravel completely, and start again. Third time lucky, I thought, casting on again for the lace and studiously reading the pattern. I had done about six rows, when I started to wonder when the pattern was going to ask me to add in some of those beads I had carefully strung... only to reread the pattern and realize I should have been adding them from the very first row... Rip it out again and start over. Okay, so now I have the pattern pretty much down pat, the needles are out of my way, and I am motoring along, adding beads (which had their own challenges, but hey! I worked it out), when son Stewart calls me for help. I put the sock down and go help, and when I come back, mere minutes later, the cat has chewed completely through the Zephyr yarn, leaving me with about a meter of yarn (and all the beads) hanging from my work. The only reason the cat is not dead is that Stewart came running to cuddle and protect him... OK. I admit defeat. I put the socks away for about a month and thought about other projects. When I went back to it, taking care to keep it well out of the cat's way, the cuffs didn't take very long at all. I was delighted with how the grafting of the the ends together was virtually invisible. Mind you, one cuff is better than the other, but don't look too closely and you'll never know. They need blocking still, but I am delighted with the way they turned out. My sister is graduating from her teacher training in the fall, and these are going to be her grad gift.

Two in white

2007-08-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to knit this first sweater by a post on the Yarn Harlot's site. She had knitted a little sweater from a vintage baby book by Patons. I didn't have the pattern so I improvised. It is not exactly the same as hers, but very similar. I used a cotton from my stash, and was very frustrated to discover (once it was blocked and put together) that I must have had two different dye lots (for white, yet - go figure!) because you could see a line of a different white at the top of one of the sleeves. I tried soaking it in a mild solution of bleach; the difference is much less noticeable, now. I really like the little picot hem on the edges.

I saw the pattern for this sweater on Berrocco's site. My LYS didn't have the fluffy white yarn that was called for, so they sold me a beautiful 100% wool substitute, Orisetto. The knitting on this one went really fast, but it was the finishing that took so much time. The embroidery was a pure pain in the behind. Embroidering on knitted garments, particularly where the knit is on fairly large needles, is a challenge. The shell crochet is supposed to go all around the collar, too, but when I got to that point, I really liked the more subdued look of just the row of single crochet around the collar edge. The pattern had a little toque for a hat, but I like the more traditional style of bonnet to go with the very delicate look of the sweater.

Blogland here I come...

2007-07-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it was only a matter of time before I could take it no longer. I have finally fallen in with the rest of the knitting universe and decided to start blogging. How I will find the time to do this as well as knit is beyond me...

For this first post, I thought I would start with my 2007 knitting history! Most recently completed, just in time for the release of the Deathly Hallows, was a quidditch sweater in Gryffindor red and yellow, for my son. He casually asked me (a week and a half before the release date) if I thought I could make him the sweater to wear to the release party at Van Dusen gardens. It did indeed get completed in time - with smoking needles and panting breath, I completed it at 10:35 at night in the car on the way to the party! He was most pleased and proudly wore it, hoping someone would notice and comment. I am angry with myself for not leaving him any growing room on the sleeves - this sweater will not fit him for as long as I would like. Nevertheless, he is pleased with it and is now requesting socks, scarves, etc. to match.

I have been on a baby sweater knitting jag for a while.

I fell in love with the Dream in Color tulip baby sweater and sent away for a kit. I love this pattern and the yarn is easy to work with. With the leftover yarn, I made the cap to go with it. I was so taken with the pattern that I decided to get some more yarn and knit it again. Choosing Mission Falls cotton yarn, I knitted it again, but this time, instead of a knit one purl one row at the colour change, I knitted a row of eyelet. I really like the holes in the row. The cotton was heavier and harder to work with, so I wouldn't make it again in this yarn. Looking at the photos I have taken of my projects, I realize why many people photograph their work outdoors - the lighting is much better.

Two white baby sweaters to show tomorrow!