Friday, February 08, 2008
Here are some better photos of HRM the Kooch.
(Love my little Duck to pieces, but the guy cannot for the life of him take in-focus photographs.)
I jumped the gun with all the seaming. That photo in the magazine is misleading. The awesome belt which really is the whole reason why I started this 2-year knitting sojourn, is not actually belt. WHAT? you say, if not a belt then what? Well, they are actually ties which end at either side of the waist. One tie for the right, one for the left. The right tie is attached to the waist seam of the front right panel, and vice-versa for the left. THEN the left and right front panels are seamed to the back panel.
Does not that sound entirely nutters to you? And how odd would that look, a cardigan with a half-belt? And how empty and naked the back.
So screw the instructions and the design, I'm making a full belt.
Here are some more photos of Rambling Rose to fill up space. I blocked the back and fronts and let us now bask in the glory of the awesome stitch definition. Go STR Go.
Filed Under: Rambling Rose | Rowan | Kooch
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
 Sorry for the horrible photo (used Photobooth on the macbook), but LOOK!
It's KOOCH!!!!!
ALL. SEAMED. UP!!
I have the neckband and the belt to do and then this thing is oh my god done!
I don't even care that the sleeves are turning out to be too big or that the yarn is as itchy as a rash. It's going to be finished! Woooooooot!
Filed Under: Rowan | Kooch
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
My BFF, the recipient of the red Monkey socks and the one who gave me my nickname "Cat," became engaged back in October. Since then she's kept me appraised of all details - the church, the possible reception locations, the food, the color scheme, her dress.
However there was one very important piece of information missing from all this. And it wasn't until yesterday that I found out what it was.
"We need to discuss what flowers you will have..."
"Me?"
"...and will need to pair with your dress. Yes you get some flowers - "
"Me?"
" - either as corsage or bouquet or hair."
"But...am I..."
"Are you what, kitty?"
"I don't know!!"
"I had flowers at YOUR wedding. You get flowers at MY wedding."
"Yes but - "
"Why are you worried kitty?"
"You were a bridesmaid. Am I a bridesmaid?"
"You are a matron of honor."
"HAHAHA YOU NEVER TOLD ME."
"YES I DID. First thing!"
"No you didn't."
"Right?"
"You did?"
"Didn't I?"
"I don't think so."
"OH MY GOD."
Flashback to October 2006 when BFF's engagement was first revealed...
"FINALLY!!! I can be BRIDESMAID! Heh."
"Yes you can!"
"HAHAHA!"
"I've had it in my head that I wasn't 100% bridesmaid because I invited myself. And then we never talked about it after that. So I just assumed I wasn't..."
"Yeah I said yes you can and I thought that was it. Dude that's hilarious."
So at long last, hooray! I am officially BFF's bridesmaid! This will be the second time I've been asked to be maid of honor, but the first time that I will actually perform the task. The first time my relationship with the bride-to-be - who I'd known since 9th grade - completely dissolved months before her wedding. Needless to say it was ugly, and ultimately very sad. There was just no other way around it though. But that's another story for another day.
Right now I'm very excited to officially be my BFF's Cat of Honor. Thank goodness this comedy of errors has ended. During my recent trip to NYC in February she assumed I was there to shop for a bridesmaid dress. Ha ha! I wasn't! Which explains why she thought I wasn't really "into it." Imagine though if I had bought a dress, and it was all gold and shiny and low-cut and bedazzled with rhinestones. Imagine if we had kept up our assumptions until 2 weeks before her wedding?
Communication is key, people.
**********************
In knitting news, at long last I am on the sleeves of Kooch! This thing is far from being close to finished though. After the sleeves there's the collar to knit and attach. Then the border for the front, including button holes. Then the buttons to sew. Then the belt. One day my friends, one day.
**********************
The deadline - this Friday - for the Knitterly Letter Swap fast approaches! Thank you to everyone who has signed up so far. There are lots of you (yay!), and I am so pleased to have my organizational skills tested in this way. Heh. I have tried to reply to each person as "confirmation" but have lost track here and there. So if you haven't heard from me, don't worry. I have your info. Woot!
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Life | Rowan | Kooch
Monday, March 12, 2007
I have had this annoying, inexplicable habit of buying single skeins of sock yarn, the ones that are no more than 175 yards and obviously not enough to make a full pair of socks. See this. And this. And also this. There are more bachelors and bachelorettes hanging out in the stash. When I approach that wall dripping with those Koigu colors, fighting the urge to grab every skein and stuff them in my mouth, I think to myself: Why buy two skeins in one color when for the same price you can have two skeins in two colors? More for your money! I'm so smart! Not a bad shopping practice in general, but when the whole point of buying sock yarn is to uh make socks, full-grown socks, which you now can't do because you don't have enough yarn, well then really how smart are you? I tried justifying my single purchases by convincing myself that I only wanted to knit anklets. But again. Wool anklets. What's the point? In the end you end up wasting. These Spring Anklets I made in that buttery Sundara yarn has been worn maybe all of five times in the last year.
So I'm totally loving this Chevron Scarf craze. It's the perfect way to use up the single skeins of sock yarn, and to pair up colorways that are not particularly matchy-matchy. In fact the less matchy the colors are, the better! I'm also trying to wean myself off of making socks, and the Chevron Scarf is the perfect in-between project. Still using yummy sock yarn but not making socks. Yay!
I'm using Sundara yarn in "Troubador" + Louet Gems Pearl in the lightest green. Instead of the fan-and-feather pattern I'm using this simple chevron pattern with eyelets:
Across 33 stitches:
RS rows: [k4, yo, k, yo, k4, double-decrease] twice, then k4, yo, k, yo, k4 (35 sts)
WS rows: p2tog through the back, p to last two stitches, p2tog (33 sts) Double-decrease is: slip 2 stitches knitwise together, k next stitch, pass the two slipped stitches over. This makes for a skinny scarf. For wider chevrons increase the 'k4' part to your liking.
After the first foot of the scarf I switched up the height of the chevrons by knitting 4 rows of one color and then 4 rows of the other. So it'll be 4x4 for the middle, and 2x2 for the ends of the scarf.
I'm using US3 needles on the fingering weight yarn, and as a result the fabric is loose, but not lacey, and the sides aren't curling in. Woot! Very pleased with how this is turning out so far.
P.S. I also finished the back of Kooch. Just the sleeves left...I see the light! Slow and steady wins the race, right?
Filed Under: Chevron Scarf | General Knitting | Rowan | Kooch
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
In case you missed this really important headline, here's this morning's Breaking News from cnndotcom:
"The musical 'Dr3amgirls' led today's Ac@demy Aw@rds contenders with eight nominations, but was shut out in the best picture category for which it had been considered a potential front-runner."
Stunning. I mean. 8 nominations - but no best pic? I knew it - there is no god. I'm completely shattered.
Even so, I'm not quite as shattered as I was when I read this truly Breaking News-worthy breaking news from Nov 7, 2006. It's possible you fellow Americans might have missed this one because you stepped away from your desk to perform more pressing matters, like to refill your cup of coffee. Or to pee. Or to vote.
"Br!tney Sp3ars files for divorce from her husband...citing irreconcilable differences."
I caught it though. As soon as it happens, I know about it. Thank you cnn.
 Here's my own very exciting breaking news: Hatred for knitting by hand convinces handknitter to buy knitting machine.
Slow, torturous progress on my Kooch. I've decided it needs to be a given a more flattering name and will now call it My Albatross.
Waaaah you guys waaah. Finishing this is going to be a huge struggle. I want the coat a million times more than I want to knit it. After knitting with fingering weight yarn for so long, the chunky is doing a number on my hands, not to mention the return of Reynaud's on my ring and pinky fingers making chunky knitting that much more unpleasant. I've been fantasizing about a knitting machine more and more. If I had a knitting machine I'd use it in a heartbeat. If I had a knitting machine I'd have a sweater coat in another heartbeat. No more languishing as a WiP for a year...the whole thing would finally be done.
If I get one though would that be like going over to the knitting darkside? My mom has one and I always poo-poo it. Because isn't the fun of knitting doing the actual knitting? The yarn, the color of the yarn, the feel of the yarn through your fingers, the clicking of needles, the mechanics of it all motivate us more than whatever the outcome will be.
But not in this case! Stockinette stitch to infinity, scratchy yarn, chunky needles...Kooch is officially Not Fun to Knit. I have no tactile motivation; I just really really want to wear it.
This is where the practicality of hand knitting comes into play - as in, it's just not there! So to machine-knit or not to machine-knit...that is the question...
Filed Under: General Knitting | Rowan | Kooch | WTF
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Discrepancy
Some of you recognized in my last post that I finally picked up Kooch again after more than a year's hiatus. I can't explain why the motivation to finish this piece has been so lacking, especially when I so absolutely love the pattern. Every now and then I'd spot a sweater coat (or 'coat sweater?') not unlike Kooch on the racks of some high-brow boutique on Newbury St. And then I'd look at the price tag. And then I'd choke on my own tongue, and then I'd yell to myself GIRL YOU CAN MAKE THIS JUST FINISH THAT KOOCH ONCE AND FOR ALL WOULD YOU PLEASE?!
(God what a horrible name! A whole year and I still can't get used to calling it that without feeling dirty)
So I had finished the back some time in November 2005. I started the left front panel last week. It was half-way done when I superimposed it on top of the back panel to check measurements, and. Well. As you can see in the photo the hem width is off by a whole mile. The gauge differential between the hem of the back and the hem of the front is a whole 2 stitches per 4 inches. La. Fun.
I am 10000% positive that I used the same needles. As a rule I always go down a needle size than what is called for in the pattern, so in this case I knit in a size 8, and I used Susan Bates aluminums of which I own only one pair. So is it possible between last year and now, I am knitting what, 50% more tightly, without having changed my knitting mechanics? Seems funky. I can't account for it. Other than I did mistakenly switch needles. But I'm so sure I didn't. Did I? Must have. But.
Anyway, this is all really more confusing than it is horrible. I wanted to redo the back anyway to get rid of the vents - don't like the vents - and make it shorter in length. With the rows and rows of stockinette, I'm also using Kooch as an opportunity to learn how to knit differently. More on that later! It's very exciting.
So with any luck, I'll have my own $1400 sweater coat to wear by the time winter gets here. If it ever does. I'm not a huge fan of cold, but this mild New England winter is kinda freaking me out...
Filed Under: Rowan | Kooch
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Hello fellow Americans who are possibly still sans Rowan! I received my Rowan yesterday in the mail, hopefully you guys did too. And let me say, it...was kind of sort of only slightly worth the wait...? Maybe? The two items that caught my eye, besides the crazy KSH ballgown "Arwen" which no way would I ever make, is Aelf and Lorelai. The others are nice but just how nice I'm not sure yet.
It just doesn't quite compare to last year's issue, Rowan 38. Even though it was better known as The Issue That Was Universally Vilified, it was responsible for really turning me into a Rowan fan, whereas before I was frankly puzzled by its popularity.
 In fact, while waiting for 40 to arrive, I took another good look through 38, and find I love it even more. Aside from finally finishing Kooch (and I'd really really REALLY like to finish it. I was in anthropologie yesterday and sweater coats were everywhere), I want to start Miss Maple. Yes that beautiful sweater-poncho-cardigan enigma that will do nothing to accentuate my non-existent curves but whatever I still love it. It's trendy yet classic at the same time. No? Maybe.
Instead of Felted Tweed I could use the mounds of Peruvian Wool that has been sitting in my stash for nearly 2 years. So all I need are a couple of skeins of KSH. Which I will purchase at WEBS this weekend when we are in western Mass for a BBQ (this has been a fantastic summer, by the way). Damn you WEBS for carrying Rowan now! I am weaker than ever in your yarn-filled presence!
Anyway. I think I just reviewed Rowan 40 by reviewing Rowan 38. That's really helpful. I'm such a good knit blogger. And didn't I make a promise not so long ago that I'd blog daily? I should quit saying things I don't mean. Like "I'll call you right back" or "Yeah I'll do the dishes" or "I'm going to finish Kooch." Oh well, I've been really busy. I mean lazy. Sorry.
But I've been knitting! Check out what's been accomplished just in the last week:
 Boston Red Socks
I am LOVING the way these are turning out, like ACTUAL, official team-sanctioned socks!
The pattern I'm using is the Madder Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks, and the yarn is Baby Cashmerino. I'm using US2 needles and have adapted the pattern for this gauge.
The Horseshoe heel looks interesting, like a coffee bean.
It's sad. These Red Socks are better than the actual Red Sox.
Clapotis
I needed something "brainless" to knit and this fits the bill, although what's great about this pattern is that it's not so brainless at all. I can see why it's been so popular. It's witty, if a pattern can be called that. I love the part in the pattern where you drop the stitch. The first time I had to really think about how to do this. I mean I've dropped stitches plenty of times by accident. Having to do it on purpose sort of messed with my brain. Knitting on the bias did that too.
I'm making this half the called-for width but it's still wide enough to be more stoley than scarfy. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden in #34. So pretty. So so pretty.
Filed Under: Clapotis | Rowan | Socks | Red Sox
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Hey. I just realized Rowan 40 is out, maybe for a couple
of weeks already, but my mailbox is still empty. Have any of you Rowan
subscribers out there received your latest magazine yet? It looks
to be really good too, just the thing to get me into sweater-loving
mode again.
So where is it? I wait impatiently.
Filed Under: Rowan
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
There's finally have some progress to show on the Cabled Toad, but since I seem to have misplaced my camera, you'll just have to imagine it in your head. The front is finished, as is one sleeve. They're blocking on the board, with pins. Ha, that's all. Maybe I'll have this thing finished in a couple of weeks.
Just found camera. Cabled Toad is not exactly photogenic right now. See how misshapen it looks even on the blocking board:
The latest Rowan 39 came in the mail yesterday. I had nearly forgotten that I signed up for membership.
The side effect of Rowan 39 is: hemorrhaging eyeballs.
Sooooo...this issue is...funny. The costuming seems to be a little BUSY and maybe slightly OVER THE TOP, especially in the "Tribal" section, that my eyes are bugging out, darting back and forth, trying to pick out the actual knit piece they're trying to showcase. WHAT am I supposed to be looking at?! I mean the cover says it all. Attention is being drawn to all the various crap she's wearing on her HEAD AND FACE than the knitted item she's wearing on her body.
The featured game of Rowan 39 is: Find the knitted item!
Up for debate in Rowan 39 is: Feathers. You can't go wrong. Or can you...? Bwak!
And what's up with that guy in the Aladdin shoes and the rooster carcass on his head? Duck has been wanting a sweater and if there was one way to turn a guy off of receiving knitwear, this issue would do the trick.
La la la. More later, when I'm less busy and have nicer things to say.
Filed Under: Cabled Toad | Rowan
Monday, January 02, 2006
 
Pardon the weak lighting. We're expecting a snowstorm any minute.
Pattern: Electra from Rowan #38, in xsmall
Yarns: Gold - Kathmandu DK; Maroon - Grignasco Tango; Cream - Kathmandu DK and Kidsilk Haze held together; Purple - Debbie Bliss Merino DK
Needle: US 5 for the bottom ribbing, US 6 for the body, US 3 for neck and armhole ribbing
First FO of 2006, ow! It is a little upsetting that I open the new year with an homage to Ronald McDonald, but, snakes on a plane.* The color combination looked more palatable in the yarn store, and now I can't help but think I look like a Chinese member of the Partridge family, or a big tub of nachos, when I wear this.
And yet, I still kind of like it. It works better with a crisp shirt underneath, one that has slightly exaggerated cuffs and collar.
The collar is key. Do not try this at home with a white collarless, long sleeved shirt for example, innocent as a white collarless shirt may be. I happened to be wearing such a shirt when I weaved in the last strand of Electra. I immediately tossed on the vest and showed it off to Duck without first consulting a mirror. It took him exactly half a second too long to answer my "What do you think?" before he said, "It's nice!" And even then there was a slight pause between the "it's" and the "nice."
Trust me, I've asked the poor guy enough What do you think's to know when he really means it's nice or not. In this case, he and not the vest was being nice.
A quick change to a crisp white collared shirt saved the day. If I were to do this again - and I just might! Fairisle is FUN! - I'd go with my initial color choices of foresty greens, blues, and browns, and throw in a dash of pink.
No significant project notes. Just the usual of going down a needle size for a smaller fit. I did not do this in the round. I tried to carry the yarn up the sides whenever I could. This was my first fairisle project, done to break up the same ole knitting monotony, and fairisle definitely kept things interesting.
I love vests. I need to make more.
Thank you everyone who commented in the last post. It's fun to see who's reading, and to find new blogs. More more more!
*Another way of saying "c'est la vie." According to this post anyway.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Rowan | Electra
Sunday, November 27, 2005
 
Pattern: Aimee from Rowan Vintage Style, smallest size
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Liquer, 4 skeins. ALL of it.
Needles: US size 5 and size 6
I like, I like. By the way, that photo on the right, where I look like I've just slipped a disk, is actually me doing The ParisHiltonShouldersBackChestOut pose, aka The PHSBCO. Do the PHSBCO and increase your perceived confidence by 150%.
I wore this yesterday to Nephew B's christening out in western Mass., and despite the lace - and the unexpected snow - it kept me nice and warm in the drafty church we were in.
I didn't make too many changes to the pattern except to go down a needle size. It seems to have affected row gauge enough that I have two full extra stripe/lace patterns than the photo in the magazine. My Aimee is very stripey. Also, there is that hem and opening at the front for a ribbon to thread through, but alas, no ribbon. I just may leave it that way.
I used backstitch for the first time to attach the shoulder seams. I should have ignored the call for sloped shoulder shaping, and then left the shoulder stitches live to do a 3-needle bind off. It would have been so much easier to deal with. Also, though I followed the pattern, the sleeve cap shaping wasn't exactly great. There was too much extra material from the top to the first stripe that you would have had puffy princessy sleeve cap, so I removed several rows from the top. I could have removed even more, but luckily we're dealing with extra fine KSH so the bunchiness isn't too noticeable.
You know what else isn't noticeable? That SNAG I made a couple days ago on the front. I can't find it, so it's not there. Woooooo.
I used every single last bit of the four skeins of KSH. All that's left after weaving in are the scraps cut from the loose ends. That was close.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Rowan | Aimee
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
My first fair isle
My Electra has got some Southwest flair going on, with the colors of yellow corn tortilla chips (the gold), blue corn tortilla chips (the purple), salsa (the red) and sour cream (the offwhite). Hm. I definitely wasn't going for a nacho color scheme. It also reminds me of the 70s. Is that a good thing...we shall see.
I did most of the back on the plane to and from Atlanta. Those were probably the fastest plane rides ever. The fair isle on this is pretty non-extensive, which is good for a novice like me. But it's also been just enough to break up the monotony of working with single-colored yarn. I was starting to get bored of the usual. Kooch is languishing and so is Aimee. Bring on more fair isle!
Warning: badly written pseudo web technical details coming up...
Some of you were asking where I found the link to that Turkish blog. It works like this: Everytime someone clicks on a link to your site from another site, information, such as browser type, where the request for your page is originating, is sent to your server. All behind the scenes. So if you clicked on the link to the blog here, that server will know the hit came from catduckdotcom/clog. This is called the referral link, and my site keeps track of all this information. I'm watching you...
Filed Under: Rowan | Electra
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Instead of going to a real sporting goods store for those biking shorts I so desperately need, I decided to knit a pair myself. Why the hecks not. The super chunky factor will make for a more padded, gentle riding experience, while the pure wool factor will keep her toasty in this chilly fall weather.
Or...This is the beginnings of Kooch from Rowan 38. Very unfortunate name I know.
Isn't funny though that there is this designer knitting magazine featuring things such as "Kooch" and "Kid Acne" at the same time? Can it sound anymore unknitterly? But let's not dwell.
These are the back vents. Later there will be a moss stitch border added to each side of the vent, which will hopefully get rid of the bike-shorts-with-roomy-crotch look.
We haven't ridden our bikes in ages. First it rained for like eight days straight. Then we had 40mph winds for several days, still ongoing. I was doing some downtown shopping recently and while walking between two tall buildings (aka Wind Tunnel of Hell), I was actually lifted airborne for the longest 0.5 second of my life. And then I ran the rest of the way. Not voluntarily though.
I have so much to talk about but so little time to make it coherent. I've been trying to shop for something to wear to a wedding I'm going to this weekend, back home down South. I can't find ANYTHING. This season's inspiration seems to be the balloon, in the deflated state. It's disgusting! For 4 whole hours my credit card was straining to break out of its wallet confines, whining to be swiped and swiped good, I had do something to shut it up.
So I went into a yarn store.
I'm on the Electra bandwagon. Fall is the color. And being the crafty cheapskate that I am, I went for "generic" brands - Grignasco Tango instead of Rowan Felted Tweed (exactly the same material composition), and Kathmandu DK instead of Rowan Yorkshire DK. Kathmandu is a merino wool, silk and cashmere blend. Ooo la, doesn't sound so generic does it? I only call them generic because they were around $6 per skein, as opposed to $10 per for Rowan.
And for the KSH component I plan on using some leftovers I have of Pearl and/or Liquer. Tink tink tink I hear money leftover in the piggy!
The only problem was, I didn't have the book with me when I picked the colors, this being an impromptu purchase and all, and the store didn't have a copy either (grrrrrrrrrrr). So though I tried mightly to recall the color pattern in my head, in the end the colors I picked were not the wisest.
The gold will be the main color, so the accent stripes will be the cream and the wine. Which are the exact same colors as KSH Pearl and Liquer. Which will be used with the cream and/or wine color for the fairisle component. Which you won't be able to see because DUH they're all the same colors. ERGH! I tried different combos and it's all the same. At some point the cream colored yarn will be adjacent to the KSH Pearl, or if I use Liquer, then at some point the wine colored yarn will be adjacent to it, etc. etc.
So instead of exchanging one of the yarns for a more opposing color (making exchanges - or anything involving the cash register for that matter - at this certain LYS is a NIGHTMARE. But more on that later), or buying a different colored KSH, I have decided to use something from the stash. It will be ORANGE! But. Red yellow orange cream...Will it look too Fall crazy? Or worse, too Ronald McDonald?
By the way guess what I did today? I subscribed to Rowan International! I'm officially a Rowan fan. Free gift! A couple more skeins of KSH never hurt nobody either. Also they're jacking up the price of admission soon, so get it while it's good.
Before I sign off, thanks for your very kind comments on the bolero. Many of you are the type of conscientious bloggers who take time to reply personally to each commentor. It is very polite and so charming. Unfortunately I am no such blogger. :(
I'm off to Atlanta tomorrow for my high school buddy's wedding. Hopefully I'll find something non-balloony to wear at one of the many strip malls near my parent's house. See ya'll later!
Filed Under: Rowan | Electra | Kooch
Monday, October 10, 2005
Rubadubdub, check me out in the tub.
WHAT is Aimee doing in the tub? Because the tub is clean. Here at Chez Knitty McKitty, we finally have the power of Pine-Sol!!! Feel free to come over and let your baby crawl on my kitchen floor. After I finish the post, I will wetblock Aimee in the toilet, just to prove to you how clean our house is now. Sniff sniff sniff, ahhh. So that's what clean smells like.
I don't know how you guys run your household, but we don't. There are no cutesy "Laundry Wednesdays" or "Vacuum Fridays." We've tried though. We are just not routine people. Clothes get washed when they can stand up on their own, things are put away when the cats have puked on them at least twice. Unlike some crazy people I know, I find therapy in not cleaning. Duck is the same way, so between the two of us, we are very very dirty (although I very much remember while we were dating that his room was always SPOTLESS. Hmm. Interesting).
So we have housecleaners now. I KNOW. If you tell my inlaws about this they will kill us, my dad would pinch his nose because the idea stinks. My mom would be cool though. She understands that time is money. The DIY method has had us using up an entire weekend to clean this dumb house from top to bottom. Gross! How many sleeves, scarves, socks could be knit up, how many miles on the biketrail could we cover in that time? Probably bajillions, if not gazillions.
I like how the housecleaners move the furniture so they can get at the corners, where large amounts of Dust Kittens are most likely found, metastasizing quietly in the dark. They really are relentless.
The bolero is coming along slowly. I knitted it up some more in the car, on our way to and back from Grammy's funeral.
(She had the perfect Irish sendoff - it had been sunny and dry all week, then on the morning of her funeral the sky and the bottle of Jameson opened up, and everything turned to slosh, just in time and just for her.)
I finally finished the ribbing around the front and neck. It's very squishy and yummy. But the slopes in the ribbing don't seem to be as smooth or gradual as they look in the picture. Mine are kind of abrupt...I'm going to blame the instructions again and not my technique. I seamed in one sleeve and really had to stretch the cap to get it to fit in the seemingly larger armhole. Luckily it looks alright when I tried it on, but this is for sure the last Debbie Bliss thing I make. I hate her instructions.
Filed Under: Debbie Bliss | Bolero | Life | Rowan | Aimee
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Bolero Jacket from DB Simply Soft
So far I've only worked this in the car. Don't know what happened, but I'm not so ga-ga for it anymore. Figures. But I'll finish it, to get my money's worth if nothing else. I have only the sleeves to do, and then, the Endless Ribbing. Since I'm a renegade/lazy knitter, I did not alter the pattern to account for using Aran rather than Chunky. It's going to turn out smaller than the smallest size. It'll be fine, because I too am smaller than the smallest size.
Aimee from Rowan Vintage Style
 
I am officially President of the KSH Fan Club. Just had do to a couple of rows of this to get my KSH fix. For awhile there I was debating using some of the Liquer to make another Butterfly, and some of it for a shawl. This color is so delicious that I am overwhelmed with the urge to eat it. So, please, pass me the goat hair.
Our favorite gal, Kooch from Rowan 38
 
More Rowan! I just love this coat. By the time I finally decided that yes, I will pay for Rowan 38, they were out of stock everywhere. Everywhere being the one local yarn store that I can get to without driving. (The LYS in Boston which I deemed sometime back as MY LYS doesn't even stock Rowan, so it doesn't count as a reliable source.) A couple of weekends ago, on our way back home from Stowe, VT, we stopped by the ultra-bucolic little town of Woodstock, and as we strolled down the main street I said aloud, "A place like this ought to have a yarn shop, for sure." I had not even finished my sentence when we passed the last store on the street, et voila! Yarn! Fate! Ha Duck was thinking he was in the clear. Little does he know, I'm like the pig sniffing out his truffles. If there is yarn, I will find it.
The pattern for Kooch asks that you purchase 11 skeins of Yorkshire Tweed DK and 11 skeins of Tweed 4ply, and hold them together for a chunky gauge. That's 22 skeins of yarn. Ha HAA you cannot sucker me into paying $170 for two types of yarn, when I can instead pay $65 (shipping included! All the way from the UK!) for 10 skeins of Rowanspun Chunky in Fern on eBay and use the rest of the money I saved to buy shoes.
Filed Under: Debbie Bliss | Bolero | Rowan | Aimee | Kooch
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Pattern: Butterfly from Rowan 37, using 1 1/2 (or even less?) skeins of Kidsilk Haze in Pearl
Gauge: approx 18 sts = 4in on US6 needles
I have learned a few things from knitting this piece. First, Kidsilk Haze kicks ass. Second, Kidsilk Haze quickly annihilates your posture and the majority of your remaining eyesight. I worked this really slowly to avoid mistakes and having to frog. As we all know, there is just no frogging KSH. I would rather eat my own face than have to frog KSH. While working slowly and evenly, every muscle in my neck and shoulder region concentrated to keep my arms stable and not at all loose, so now I pretty much feel like I spent a 3 weeks lifting weights with my head instead of sitting on my butt. Thanks for the workout, KSH.
 
Actually, after I got through the first hem successfully and into the body, it was very quick and suprisingly easy. I had no problems with the instructions as a whole, and the pattern was easy to memorize. Usually when I work with lace patterns I inevitably make mistakes: a missed yarn-over here, a forgotten ssk there, that I would have to frog several rows to correct. Not this time though, for whatever reason. Butterfly just fluttered happily along. And THANK GOD. It was just very lucky, like we were meant to be Best Friends Forever.
Some notes:
- I went down from US8 to US6 needle size. Size 8 was just too big. The yarn-overs made hoops large enough for my cat to jump through, and the needles were just too thick for me to handle. I couldn't get it underneath any stitch.
- US7 was still too gaping and clumsy for me, so I went down to 6.
- I knitted the smallest size. Using size 6 in the smallest turned out to be a good decision. KSH stretches and stretches. The resulting bust size using US6 needles was still 32", with room to grow.
- The number of motif repeats for each hem was 11.
- I knitted Butterfly flat. In order to make seaming easier, I knitted two edge stitches on either side. This means if the row started with a YO on the first or second stitch, or ended with a YO on the last and second-to-last stitch, I ignored it and just knitted it regularly.
- At the same time, I made sure that I didn't start the pattern unless I was able to partner a YO with its corresponding decrease, and vice-versa. I kept knitting until I was able to start the pattern again "in full" - an increase with its decrease, a double increase with its double decrease, etc. This keeps the stitch count consistent, and I don't have to worry about compensating for an extra stitch on the next row.
- I replaced all "ktbl" with "ssk". Trying to force the dull needle point through two back loops was nearly impossible for me. ssk gets the job done.
- The instructions tell you to bind off at the neck edges completely, and then pick up 3 stitches for the straps. In lieu of binding off completely, I left 3 stitches live after shaping the neck on either side, and just knitted the straps from there. I made them qiute short. When satisfied with the length, I grafted it (shudder) to the live stitches on the other side.
- Speaking of grafting, let's not speak of it. Let's never speak of it. Well, we might have to. I seamed the sides using mattress stitch. Not a terrible process, considering the yarn. Backstitch might have been more appropriate but that would have required me to learn a new technique and there's no room in this old brain for that right now. So I seamed from the armhole down until I got to the hem...and that's when the grafting came in.
- To anyone who has knit Butterfly, can you tell me what those 4 rows of Stockinette stitch on either side of the hem, in the waste yarn, was all about? Like was there a good reason why you couldn't just knit one row in waste yarn? Or why you couldn't just forget about the waste yarn altogether and cast on with KSH directly? And then mattress stitch the two hems instead of grafting them? Shudder.
- For the picot edging around the neck and arms, I crocheted them rather than knit them. Because again, I didn't want to learn how to knit picot, especially when rounding 3rd base on the way to home plate. I'm nearly done and you want me to learn a new technique now? No thanks.
- I forgot about the beads. Didn't even occur to me, I was hung up on just surviving knitting with KSH. AND I HAVE!! So next time, beads all around.
- I think I might have 75% of the second skein left over!!
Updated: Oops! Just as I was dismounting from my high horse, saying that I hadn't made a mistake while knitting Butterfly, I just realized I had omitted the several rows of garter stitch along the neckline. You're supposed to work 3 rows before the picot. Does my version look less finished without the rows? Hmm...
I still have to find a better camisole to wear underneath this thing, but all in all, I am VERY HAPPY with Butterfly. Not only is it a fun knit, it is a fun and sexy ROWAN knit that cost under $20 to make. Rowan? Sexy and credit card-friendly? Can it be?
Hee hee.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Rowan | Butterfly
Sunday, August 21, 2005
LOOK!
It's the beginnings of a hem!
Rowan Butterfly in Pearl, using US6 needles.
I've finally conquered by battle with mohair. I'm so ecstatic I could cry! And I would except, after 8 repeats of the hem lace pattern, I'm totally exhausted. I'm knitting extremely, excrutiatingly slowly, counting each stitch out loud, re-counting each stitch again after a row, my arms and neck are stiff from being so careful.
KSH definitely takes getting used to. It's been my Achilles heel. Like with GGH Softkid, I'm having problems getting under the stitches for k2tog's, p2tog's, and oh god you can forget about me being able to p2tog tbl successfully in ten tries, much less one. But what I've been doing is using a small tapestry needle - something thin with a nice point - to help me get through those loops and loosen them up enough so I can then get my needle through them. It slows me down a lot, but it works great.
The stitches look so much better from a distance than up close. Up close the everything is a jumbled, indiscernable mess. But step back a few, and ah. Lace. So pretty.
Filed Under: Rowan | Butterfly
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