Tag Archive | crafts

Shawl progress

I chose poorly. Not the yarn, not the pattern. Both are heavenly. But I’m trying to modify a 5-color shawl to 3 colors and it’s not going as well as I wanted. I’m talking about my Dotted Rays shawl with the gorgeous Zen Yarn Gardens Serenity 20.

Somehow I missed where the pattern suggested approximately 1400 yards for the Large size. I just saw the yardage for the Super Large and thought 1200 yards would be plenty for the Large. (Note to self: read patterns carefully!) So I knit with color A until I had about 40 grams left and did one wedge alternating colors A and B. I didn’t want too much of the cream at the expense of the green and purple, and since I was at wedge 10 of 15, I thought surely I’d have plenty of yarn. But those later wedges get BIG, guys. Long rows, even doing short rows. After one wedge of all green, I’m down to less than 40 grams, which makes me think there’s no way I can make it through the remaining four wedges with just a bit of green and one full skein of yarn left.

There are a lot of options. I could just end it when I run out of yarn, but I really really want the chevrons at the end. I could frog back to where I stopped alternating the cream and green, and add in the rest of the cream. But I’m not sure it’s worth having to frog and reknit. (It’s definitely not.) The best option in my mind is to add another color. Currently, it’s Speckle/Solid/Speckle, so I should be able to end with a coordinating solid purple and it will be perfect. I have a couple of choices in my stash (purple yarn? Of course I do!) but I’m going to wait until I get close to running out of the purple speckle to pick. It might depend on how much I need.

I don’t think I’m a “wing it” kind of knitter. I think I like having all the information to work with up front!

Back to real life

Aug17

Whew, it’s been a whirlwind this past week! I thought I’d have a post up a day or two ago, but there just hasn’t been the time or energy or brainpower. We had a wonderful trip. The girl is all settled in to her dorm room and is loving college life so far. We love her campus, the people seemed friendly and helpful, and we already know it’s a great program, so I’m feeling okay about leaving her there. It was sad that night when we left, but overall I’d say we’re handling it just fine. I don’t know, maybe it’ll get worse, but so far, I’m just happy she’s where she wants to be.

We saw lots of gorgeous mountains, hiked in the Flatirons and in Rocky Mountain National Park, and spent a lot of time wishing we could move to Colorado. (Someday!) We hit bookstores and record stores galore. I found a place called The Chocolate Lab that had boozy butterbeer. (Too much actual beer. Gave to the husband and ordered a Dark Chocolate Elixir with Godiva liqueur instead. YUM.)

And yes, yarn stores! I visited three, only three, but I did some significant damage. No, that sounds too negative: I found a LOT of marvelous yarn. Too much to share in this post, to be honest, so that will be my next post. For now, I’ll share the progress I made on my newest project. It’s called the Michigan Avenue Wrap and I’m using three colors of Brown Sheep Stratosphere, their new superwash DK. The colors are gorgeous together and it’s growing quickly. I’m looking forward to having it for the cold fall temperatures.

It’s a lovely, soothing mindless knit, which is really important right sometimes. But to be honest, I’m feeling less stressed now that we have the girl settled in at school. Yes, I miss her, but it’s not hanging over my head anymore, and we can all settle into the new routine.

Can’t wait to show you all my new yarns!!

Wonder Woman Dishcloth

Aug5

It was the weirdest feeling: I had the time and inclination to knit, but I didn’t want to start another sock. I wasn’t in a shawl mood. I really wanted to make a hat but didn’t know who would want one, since I don’t really wear them much and the girl already has a ton. Maybe a cowl? But I already have so many. Nothing sounded good. I had all this yarn and nothing to make.

Thankfully, Ravelry came to the rescue. I browsed through my library until something jumped out at me: a Wonder Woman dishcloth! Fast, easy, and useful! And I even had red cotton in my stash already. It went so fast that I was able to get two made in one day, both out of one ball. I did modify the second one, though. It’s designed as a long rectangle, so for the second one I shaved off two stitches from either side. I like it, but I think I’d also like to try it with a couple of extra rows above and below the pattern. Still, they’re pretty wonderful!

And now today I feel like my palate has been cleansed and I can start fresh. I have the urge to cast on both a new sock and a new shawl! And maybe one more dishcloth.

Denim Sprinkles Shawl

Jul28

This is my last new cast-on after clearing off all my needles last weekend. The Ancient Arts T-shirt and Jeans yarn was still high on my list of “must knit” but I didn’t want it to be socks. Partly because white socks never seem like a good idea, and partly because I wanted it to become something more visible than socks. While going through my Ravelry queue, I found the pattern for the Sugar Sprinkles shawl, which I’ve been wanting to make for quite a while, and it checked off all my boxes: Long narrow shawl, variegated yarn, lace, right yarn weight and yardage. I bought it, downloaded it to my pattern app (I use Knit Companion) only to discover it was already in there! I think I must have downloaded it when she did a short free period, but I forgot about it. Oh well, the $4 is totally worth it.

This is a really fun knit! I love making eyelets, and the pattern switches back and forth often enough that I don’t get bored quickly. This was my progress on Monday night, and it’s been my evening knitting (when I’m not too tired to knit). This morning I took it outside again to get a progress photo.

It’s so fun! I think it’s going to be a great addition to my shawl wardrobe. But here’s the thing: it’s gotten long. Like really long. There are over 250 stitches on the needle, and when I tried to spread them out to show the size of the shawl, about 10 stitches jumped off one end! And you know yarnovers just love to spring free. ARGH. I managed to catch most of them, and I got it kind of fixed, but I’m pretty sure my stitch count is off now and I’ll have to do some fudging to get it back. Thankfully this is a forgiving pattern where being a stitch or two off doesn’t really hurt the look of it.

So now I have three projects on my needles, and that seems like a good number for me, at least for now. What’s a comfortable number of WIPs for you?

Sha-ZAM!

Jul26

With empty needles, I happily poked through my stash to see what I should knit next, and four pretty little skeins jumped out at me. The first was a skein of Malabrigo Rios, an aberration because I’ve been knitting so much with fingering weight yarn. I had an urge to make a cowl, one of my favorite things to knit. I love to knit on circular needles, I love the feel of merino wool in my hands, and I love to play with different patterns. And best of all, I love having so many cowls to wear when it’s cold.

This skein is the color Aniversario. I’ve bought this colorway before but it’s one where there’s huge variations in colors. I made a Hitchhiker Beyond in this color, but it has a lot of blue/indigo. This skein is mostly red. I chose a fun, free one-skein cowl pattern called Sha-ZAM! and it’s going very quickly.

I’d forgotten how much I love Malabrigo. It’s so soft, with that yummy squish factor. I definitely need to make my next sweater in Malabrigo!

Two weeks from today, we leave to take the girl to college in Colorado. (EEK!) I’m freaking out a little, but I’m also super excited for her. And I can’t wait to visit my mountains again. Anyway, before she leaves, I decided we needed some family time, so I declared today a Family Fun Day and we all took the day off work. We’ll visit the Jazz Museum, have some lunch, go to a fantastic big vintage record store, and who knows what else. Maybe a movie? I won’t get much knitting done, but that’s all right. Knitting can wait.

FO: Jungle Boogie Socks

Jul24

This is the final finished object from my busy weekend of knitting. Finishing the sweater and the Easy shawl felt so good that I wanted to wrap up the last project on my needles, the Jungle Boogie socks. I was just past the gusset decreases so it was easy stockinette in the round for a few inches. I watched some Fixer Upper and read some of An American Marriage (it’s super good so far) and grafted the toe late Sunday morning. Time to boogie!

Here’s the one tiny flaw in these socks: I can’t figure out how to photograph that bright, almost glow-in-the-dark green! I tried in different places, with different light, with different camera settings, and it just stumped me. Suffice it to say it’s really really bright, and these are amazing socks! I absolutely love the color combo. I’m especially proud because these are my first socks where the stripes match almost perfectly.

The yarn is Show Me Yarn Bootheel in color Jungle Boogie. Their yarn has quickly become my favorite sock yarn. The colors are vivid and fun, and the yarn is soft in my hand but still sturdy and firm, making socks that feel durable. It washes wonderfully and feels great on my feet. I’m sad that I only have one more skein in my stash. The contrast color is Amethyst Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids.

And with these socks done, my needles were EMPTY. That is a rare occurrence, and it felt so refreshing. But the best part about it was feeling free to cast on all the things!

Oh, and good news: my sweater has been washed and dried and it relaxed so beautifully! The yarn is much softer, and it has a lovely drape. The sleeves are way too long but I ended up with a sweater I can wear, so I call that a win.

FO: Easy Shawl

Jul23

The last week has been a productive one for my knitting: I finished three projects over the weekend! The biggest was the sweater, which I shared yesterday, but I think the prettiest might be my Easy shawl. Once I picked it back up after a long hiatus, I zoomed along, eager to see the finished piece. It did not disappoint!

I love how the knitting goes in two directions, with that pretty little seam in between. I love the shape of it, long and narrow with tapered ends; it’s my favorite kind of shawl to wear. I love how the simple pattern lets the gorgeous colors be the highlight. And I love how soft and squishy it is.

There was a slight hiccup in the knitting of it: the pattern said to use half the yarn in the first section. Okay, did that, assuming the second half would be enough to finish the pattern as written, right? Well, it didn’t work out that way for me. I got toward the end and my yarn was going too quickly, so I had to decrease faster than written to make it work. The last row I had to purl four together so I’d have enough left to bind off. I ended with less than a yard leftover. I’m not sure why it happened. No, I didn’t swatch because I figured I didn’t need to, if I’m knitting based on the amount of yarn. My only thought is that my tension was different for the second half, since I’d done the first half about three months ago. In any case, it worked out fine. I can’t see any problem with the end of the seam, and it sure won’t be noticeable when I’m wearing it!

Pattern: Easy by Martina Behm

Yarn: Madtosh DK by Madelinetosh, color Gosla

FO: Tea with Jam and Bread Sweater

Jul22

I finished my sweater yesterday! I’d set it aside while we were the throes of a heatwave, as many of you are too, but since it’s relatively tolerable right now and I’m in Finish Everything Mode, I picked it up yesterday. Only one sleeve was left, why let it linger in the WIPs for one little sleeve? In between laundry and taking the girl shopping for dorm supplies, I knit around and around and around. After dinner we watched Troy, and I knit around and around and then somehow I was binding off even before the battle between Hector and Achilles. It needs washing and blocking but it’s done!

I ended up liking the color combination a lot, even if the tonal stripes seem a little unusual. And I like how the navy stands out. Really, I think they all play well together. And best of all?? It has pockets!

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The two main colors are Berroco Ultra Alpaca and it’s not my favorite. It does play nicely on needles, not slippery at all, and has great stitch definition. It’s a more earthy yarn, with a rougher texture, so not only does it grab and hold onto dog hair, but it’s also scratchy against my skin. I tried it on to make sure it fit, and it does, but I definitely won’t be able to wear it without something long-sleeved underneath.

It’s not a perfect fit. There’s not as much positive ease in the body as I’d wanted; the result of swatching flat instead of in the round. The sleeves are long, maybe even a tad longer than I like, and I’m not convinced they match each other, but I’m also not convinced you can tell by looking at it. The bottom edge has a terrible urge to fold up, and I really hope blocking takes care of that. But even with all of that, I look at it and I love it. I made this pretty little sweater! And now I feel confident enough to make a sweater with better yarn, maybe Malabrigo, that won’t be itchy against my skin!

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Pattern: Tea with Jam and Bread by Heidi Kirmaier

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca and Ultra Alpaca Tonal, Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Worsted

I Don’t Like Short Rows

Jul21

Seriously, I’ve never liked short rows. At first, when I was a new knitter, I was scared of them. Turn your knitting in the middle of a row? What madness is that? Like knitting socks, I thought they were complicated and hard and a sure way to mess up your knitting if you didn’t do them right. But they’re also hard to avoid completely.

I think my first project with short rows was Martina Behm’s Fractal Danger. Like a lot of patterns, I bought it because it was pretty without looking too closely, and it wasn’t until I was partway in and invested that I found the short rows. Fine. I’d do them just this once. And it was fine, they weren’t hard, but a bit fiddly, and I’ll be darned if that shawl didn’t come out as one of the most wearable pieces I’ve made.

Then I knit my first sock, and realized the magic of turning heels is due to short rows. But those are super easy, and it’s just a few stitches, and it’s like they don’t even count as short rows.

Oh, but then came Wonder Woman. How many of you have knit the Wonder Woman wrap? It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? I had to make it, regardless of what it took. Well, as you can guess, it took short rows. And not the simple short rows I’d done in the past, but wrap and turn short rows. These short rows actually lived up to my expectations: they were tricky, and it was hard to find the wrapped stitch you were supposed to knit into. But for Wonder Woman, I pushed through it, and it’s one of my favorite shawls to wear. Now, I don’t think I’d want to make another one, but I learned I can do short rows if I have to.

Guess what else? Lots of sweater patterns use short rows for neck shaping, to make the back of the sweater a little bit bigger than the front. Both sweaters I’ve made did that; I guess I was getting used to short rows because they weren’t a big deal.

And now, here I am again, knitting short rows. I picked Martina Behm’s Easy shawl because of course, it has Easy in the name and when you want mindless knitting, easy is good. I floated through Part I, doing so much garter stitch in a haze of happiness. But then came Part II. The second triangle was made from…short rows? Dang it. I don’t like short rows. Except…maybe I do? Because look at this:

They’re not hard at all, and there’s that beautiful little seam going in between the two triangles, and they’re coming together so neatly and magically and I kind of love it.

So there you have it. I actually do like short rows after all.

Except wrap and turn short rows. Those still suck a little.

Uninspired Knitting

Jul19

I’ve been knitting, of course. You’ve seen my Hitchhiker and that was a super fun project. But I’m not doing any exciting knitting. I’m kind of stuck in this rut of finishing WIPs, which is great, except it’s not that interesting. Now that I think about it, though, I think my knitting is acting as my therapy, my comfort, my peace. I think I need that balance to the rest of life right now.

Work is fine, but you know, work can just be a little stressful at times, especially when you’re learning tricky new things. The house, well, it’s up in the air right now. We don’t know if we’re staying or selling or when so I’m just muddling along there. The girl leaves for college in three weeks and there’s much still to do before then and I’m starting to feel that little knot in my chest when I think about it but it’s fine, it’ll be fine. Just fine. The husband is stressed out like crazy. Thankfully, the boy is the easy one right now, rather stubborn (I can’t complain too much; he got it from me) but overall easy to please. And the dogs. They’re such good dogs, really. They make me happy.

Sitting with them with some garter stitch or a vanilla sock in my hands is the happiest, most relaxing thing right now. So that’s what I do. I know I’ll get back to sweaters and lace and all kinds of fun knitting things, but it’ll have to wait a while, apparently. Hills and valleys, right?

I finished the last of these socks last night. The yarn is Indigo Boulevards 2-ply sock in the color Lost Diadem, purchased from the Yarn Charm when the girl and I were on the college visit in Lincoln, Nebraska. I decided we each needed a pair of souvenir socks, and I had plenty of yarn with a bit left over!

With that done, I felt the urge for more garter stitch, so I pulled out my hibernating Easy shawl for some movie knitting last night. I’m almost to the end of the first skein, which means I’m almost halfway through. The yarn is Madtosh DK in the color Gosla and it’s so so so gorgeous and I definitely want this to wear as soon as it cools down around here. (So, like, maybe November, at this rate.)

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One more sign that my knitting is uninspired right now: I’m not buying yarn right now. I haven’t bought yarn since late April. Three months, guys! And we drove near a yarn store over the weekend and I wasn’t even tempted to stop! Now that’s crazy. But I’m happy with all my beautiful yarn in my stash…and okay, I confess, I know I’ll be going to the Loopy Ewe next month, so maybe I’m just biding my time.