Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Recently on the train I sat next to this chick knitting. Now that I knit it's always fun watching other people knit and see what sort of techniques they use, what they're making, the yarn they're using. 9 out of 10 times I see novelty yarn (why people why?), or skinny dpn's sticking like a voodoo ritual through mittens, which is very ambitious project to undertake in a vehicle that jerks violently every 5 feet. Once I saw a woman crocheting with a hook SO LARGE, I mean truly enormous that it looked like...something battery operated. Wink wink nudge nudge.
So this chick I was sitting next to, as I was watching from the corner of my eye I noticed something off in her knitting mechanics. Something strange, something off-kilter. It took me a little while longer of spying to realize that she was wrapping her yarn the other way around -- clockwise, rather than counterclockwise. Twisted! (Although if you inserted the needle in the back of the loop and wrapped the yarn clockwise, it would turn out ok right? Hmm. Let's ponder that one.)
Do I say something? Do I mind my own business? If you were doing something wrong you'd want to know sooner than later right? But I said nothing.
This got me wondering of course whether it mattered how you wrapped stitches, or maybe wrapping clockwise was the right way and I had been kitting incorrectly all this time. The horror! After I got home I tried wrapping clockwise (funky!) and it came out twisted. So phew.
Filed Under: General Knitting
Monday, October 03, 2005
Help...me...*twitch twitch*
This weekend I finished and blocked one half of what will become the world's ugliest pair of sleeves. Thanks to the wretched instructions for the Debbie Bliss bolero. Or, is it my fault? I don't know dude. I've never knit an adult sweater from DB, and this is the first time I looked at a sleeve cap and wanted to throw up. I even did the sloped bind off technique. Imagine if I hadn't. Wow. That is the ugliest sleeve cap I have ever seen.
Hopefully it will seam up alright.
Not much else on the knitting front. This week has been busy busy. Friday was my last day at the job so I've been busy with wrapping up and knowledge transferring and all that good stuff. It's been a good gig, one that originally was slated for 6 weeks but turned into 14 months.
It's amazing how much time goes by when you're not paying attention. Suddenly I was all, "I've been here over a year, and still don't have my own desk or know your name. Or yours. Or...yours." Such is the life of a contractor. I kept getting booted around for new, legitimate hires. I kept thinking, I'm only here temporarily, no use in introducing yourself, then meanwhile a year goes by and you still have no idea who anyone is or what they do.
Outside of my core group I did make one fabulous friend. And she has a fabulous name. Kitty! Kitty and Cat! Kitty Cat! We understand each other. We go drinking in bars and gossip/make fun/complain about people in the office and forget the time and spill wine all over ourselves and have our husbands come pick us up and say, "You smell like a homeless man." Oh wait that was just me. She's hilarious, and we've promised to keep the weekly, bi-weekly Cats' Night Out thing going.
But anyway, I decided to take another contracting gig that came along with another former co-worker, and I start some time this week, or possibly next. Whenever all the legal contract mumbo jumbo goes through.
So what am I going to do with the couple of free days that I have? DUH. I'm going to KNIT. NON-STOP.
And ride! We went biking again this weekend. I didn't have time to find a new seat (thanks for all your advice!) but I wore a pair of Duck's biking shorts, under cropped pants, to tie me over. A couple of times I sneaked a peak at my reflection as we rode by a storefront window, and gee! Who's that cat with the bubblicious JLo ass? Meerow! We stopped per usual in Lexington center, I ducked into Wild 'n Wooly (hooray! I can bike to the yarn store!), we had some ice cream, etc etc, then rode a little farther out before coming home. La la la!
Filed Under: Debbie Bliss | Bolero | Life
Monday, September 26, 2005
Pardon me while carry on with this newfound activity called EXERCISE as if I'm the first human being to do it. My stint on the bike is over. Temporarily. Right now is a time of healing. So while the last few nights I've slept like a boulder at the bottom of a lake, all in all I have had no muscle aches or pains. I thought waking up the next morning I'd feel like a limp rag soaked in lactic acid. But, no. Strange. Very strange.
So what's the deal? Well. There is another element I had not at all prepared for. I can tell you this because we are all best friends here: a certain AREA has been battered, sorely battered and bruised beyond recognition. Clue: this certain AREA shares the same name, in some circles, as a certain COAT that I will be knitting from Rowan 38. Duck had his delicate egg wrapped in a basket of soft yet protective foam. But mine was right out there in the frontline of battle, casually covered in tissue paper, also known as unbefitting thin cotton shorts. So unprepared for the aftermath! You'd think FEMA ran the show down there. Can I blame Bush for this too? Ha ha ha I alone shall laugh at my pun.
For this reason only I cannot bike for a few more days. Just the thought is bringing tears to my eyes. Look! I'm crying!
Filed Under: Life
Sunday, September 25, 2005
No knitting news for the weekend. I bought a used bike and
we've been hitting the trails, biking from our house to Lexington and
back. That's about 20 miles, maybe. Big whoop, you say. This is a big
deal for me because I am the world's largest slug. Albeit a slug with
good intentions. I've been wanting to exercise more, but Orangina and Butterfly and Aimee and Co. can't up and knit
themselves now can they?
Lately though I've just been feeling gross and old
from lack of exertion, and fed up with my own laziness. So Saturday we
went bike shopping. First store off the Minuteman Trail, and I had my
bike 10 minutes later. We drove it back home, changed, and hit the road
back to the trails on bikes. The sun was out, the breeze was cool, and air was fresh. It felt really, really great.
Even though I'm unable to walk or sit properly today. Prognosis for tomorrow looks to be worse.
Filed Under: Life
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
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
I had all these things I wanted to talk about, and now I got nothing. Can I be boringly brief instead? OK: Vermont was lovely, good riddance to Michael Brown, and Butterfly is on the road to a glorious debut.
But first, some not-so-glorious grafting of the hems. This was so gross, people. I didn't get why we had to knit 4 rows of St. st. in waste yarn at either ends for the hem, but figured it would all make sense come grafting time. Well it didn't. All those rows of waste yarn was a pain in the ass to maneuver around, didn't help me in the grafting process, so I ended up removing them and threading one string of contrasting yarn through the loops. That made it much easier, and in the end the pattern motif aligned. F+ for technique, but A- for outcome.
Lo! That's project number 2 that I've been knitting up during weekend after weekend of mini roadtrips this past month. Why yes, it's that blasted Bolero from Debbie Bliss Simply Soft that I kept mooning about forever. I must have leafed through it in five different yarn stores before I finally sucked it up and bought it. It's still a bloody rip-off! Anyway, I'm doing this in Cashmerino Aran, rather than Chunky, and have the back and one front panel finished. The front panel ridiculously itty bitty, but half of its width is comprised of 2x2 ribbing that goes all around the circumference of the entire piece. That'll be fun when I get to it.
Filed Under: Debbie Bliss | Bolero | Butterfly
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Couple weeks ago when I was getting slammed with spam, I set up this here blog to block referrals coming from certain poker sites, casino sites, engorgement pill sites, etc. And I just now realized this site was not only blocking those, but ALL referrals. So anyone who clicked on a link here from another knitting site, aka a legitimate site, got nowhere. :( I just fixed that.
I strapped myself in front of my laptop this past long weekend to get work done (bleh), but I also managed to squeeze in some quality time with Mme. Butterfly. At this point it is breezing by. I've memorized the pattern, I'm replacing all ktbl with ssk, I'm comfy with handling KSH, all of which combined makes for a knitting experience that is much easier and much more fun than I had imagined it would be.
Second panel, approached armhole shaping
I'm not knitting in the round. I thought about it but using KSH seemed ambitious enough. Seaming this isn't going to be too bad. I made sure to knit 2 edge stitches on both sides so I'm not attempting to seam a gaping yarn-over, or whatever.
We're off tonight to Stowe Vermont for a wedding. It's too bad I won't finish this in time to wear it.
Filed Under: Butterfly
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