Big Weekend Plans!

Change to Larger Needles

I wonder how many more times I'll ignore that instruction as I move from ribbing to body in my sweater making career. I feel like that robin that used to bonk into my window every day at sunset. Tonight I'll frog 30 rows of the Lfront CPH and Change to Larger Needles.

So I was thinking about finishing and seaming. And I wonder. My aversion to it came as a result at being completely surprised by the fact that it took more than 20 seconds and that I was not going to be wearing that first sweater as soon as I knit the last stitch. I'm thinking maybe I won't hate it so much now that I know it's coming and that it takes longer than 20 seconds and possibly longer even than 20 minutes. If I plan for 20 hours, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'm going to call that a knitting delusion- the 20 second finishing- due to inexperience. Want to make me feel better as I face my stupidity and lack of atttention span this evening? Share your worst knitting delusion. It's o.k. you can sign in as anonymous if you feel you need to.

except if there's a post about finishing Icarus, I'll know who you are.

Ghknit Ghnight (the gh is silent)

Ah... knit night how I continue to love thee.

CPH back is finished. 2 extra stitches on the neck but I'm letting that one slide. I k'd a couple of p stitches about 20 rows down and was graced by All-Wise (in the very very best knitting friend way) Debbie's tip for the night. She handed me a latch hook (only smaller than ones I've seen before-she says its from a knitting machine) to pick up the stitches with and yes indeed it was easier than a crochet hook. Very Very Painless.

Knitting friends had a variety of projects- there were several knitting socks on circulars-teasing me- but I've come to accept the fact that I can't knit witha da spaghetti and I feel really supercool with dpns.

There was a beautiful baby sweater that was an heirloom of sorts that a woman brought in and wanted help figuring out the pattern for so that she could knit it by Friday. Note to self- believe LYS owners when they tell you the impossible things that people dream they can do.

Another extremely cute felted hat told me that I too, could figure this out and might have a chance at being really clever and creative at it someday. That's in the back of my head.

I haven't been this taken with an activity since I thought I was going to be a music teacher when I grew up. I may seriously need to consider a career change down the road. Although I'm guessing that when your hobby turns into your work, it starts to feel more like work.

That's all I've got tonight. The wheel is scheduled to land by Tuesday or Wednesday- from New Zealand- how in the world can that be? No news on the glass head's mailing status but I'm here to say that the secretary at school is going to crack up when my packages start to arrive.

Achoo!

The sneezing person's worst nightmare



what I noticed outside today... and so my favorite time of year begins.




Thanks to everyone entering the contest! While I know it's not Sunday evening where some of you are, it was time to do it here. Names were randomly listed in an excel file and GHB gave me a number from 1-72. As random as I can get and easier than all of those little pieces of paper. If none of the suggestions pan out for me, I may have more to give away. Click to here to find out who won.

CMUS-diving in

Pre-loved Ashford Traditional Spinning wheel.This wheel comes with a few yummy extras....A lazy kate, 4 bobbins,a learn to spin booklet from Ashfords, a new niddy noddy,handpainted mohair, 100 grams of New Zealand merino  (22 micron), dyed locks and a batt I have made of merino in reds ,orange and yellow! A great package to have fun on!!

By itself, it's really not that hysterical. What makes it so is the content of an email I sent to Yarnhog just days ago when she asked about my winnings.

...enough to purchase a spinning wheel and a few sweaters worth of roving if I'm so inclined and that was after splitting the winnings with GHB (as we do when we're both playing) Money burns such a hole in my pocket I'm going to try to hang onto it for a while though. : )

Apparently "a while" is three days in my neck of the woods.

Another Round of WIP's

Lest you think there hasn't been any knitting around here, it's time for another round of WIP's

First 10" of a turtleneck cable vest in "allergic to wool" knit in the round



This is the knit night project. That way when I forget to pay attention and make a giganticorama mistake, at least I can fix the stitches without a crochet hook or concentrating much


And also a slightly overexposed picture of 14" of the back of the Central Park Hoodie.




I did indeed frog the wrong color and get it back on the needles without a major catastrophe. Intermediate-novice knitting accomlishment #23.

This may seem small to those of you accustomed to being able to solve your own problems. For me though, it was only 2 years ago while pre-novicely knitting a scarf in railroad track novelty yarn that I had to frog the whole thing every time I dropped a stitch because I didn't know how to pick it up. I also didn't know it was called frogging. Nor did I know that I was knitting with the most impossible "yarn" on the planet. I believe this is where my tendency to overreach on all projects began.

Upstairs in the bedroom is a sock in yet another shade of green but not with any cables.

I've got a big case of the greens going on accompanied by slight cabling. There is no cure- you can only treat the symptons. Treatment includes bidding on a spinning wheel and a glass head on ebay.

Has Knitty been visiting me in my sleep? Less than a week after my dream of an Alaskan Knitting cruise, one is advertised! If only I could convince GHB what an auspicious coincidence this is.



Mary Murphy the Great (not her real name) accidentally forgot to include my 15% sale discount. She retallied my total and gave me $6.66 in change. Stephanie (who has been right about everything she's ever suggested and is knitting with Kauni) was a little freaked out by my total and strongly urged me to buy something else to offset any demonic dangers. I bought a little bottle of Eucalan no-rinse wool wash.

Stephanie was completely right about shaking the demon powers. When I went to pick up GHB from the casino, playing my usual small amount just to keep him happy, I hit a biggun' and will be sitting pretty in stash for some months.

What the picture above doesn't show is that the CPH on the needles is in Avacodo Tweed and the yarn I picked up was Northern Landscape. Must I learn EVERY DAMN LESSON the hard way? Guess I'll just have to visit again on Saturday.

As for the books, who can pass up a title that has Knitting and Anarchist in it? There's not really anything new in it but it's relative lack of patterns and a solid explanation of why knitters do what they do makes one think about knitting free of the constrictions of someone else's pattern. I'm going to dig into the Hip to Knit book this evening. It's got some "basic" patterns (socks, mittens, hats) in it that makes it seem like a good resource.

Thanks to everyone who's playing Contest! Contest! with me. There have been most excellent ideas that I wouldn't have thought of. The Cool Blue September Sky Lace on Knitty's site might be calling my name. If I were on Ravelry (6213 people are ahead of you in line) it would be on my list of things to do. In the very least, the number of entries makes me feel not so stupid for buying yarn on-line that I didn't have a clue about. After all, somebody wants it.

Three days until the drawing. 5 days until Knit Knite. And as I type WVU vs. MARYLAND... Let's GOOOOOO Mountaineers!

Doh! Why didn't I think of that?

If you want to turn a skein of yarn into two relatively equal sized balls, get yourself a Shakespeare Line Counter for $10 at your nearest fish tackle shop. I haven't needed this but maybe someday if I am patient enough to do 2 socks at a time on circulars, I will.

If you're planning on frogging the YOKE of an unnamed sweater (after it's done sitting in time out for a good long time) and there are 200+ stitches on a size 5 needle, when you get to the "tinking put it back on some needles" part where it feels like every single stitch is going to dissolve before your very eyes, tink with a smaller sized KNEEDLE!!!! DOH!

If you love making felt hats and wonder how in the world you can block them without smelling like a stinky sheep as they dry on your head, consider the recycled glass head

These may all be Doh! moments from the desk of the obvious to some of you but isn't it fun to watch me wander haplessly through the world of knitting?

Speaking of said, as yet unfrogged sweater (I might make the trip to the pond a nit nite project for moral support), one knit knite friend asked how it was coming and I told her it "was in time out." I must have said it with some of my teacher like authoritative mojo as if "time out" was an official knitting term of some kind and not as if I was really saying, "I'm so pissed at that sweater I can't stand the sight of it right now," because she said "what does that mean?"


The words of wisdom above came from All-Wise (but in a good way) Debbie at the Knit Shoppe. Ruth of 5elemenknitr fame has great Tippa Tuesdays if you're looking for some more "doh!" moments.

Pknit Pknight

knit night knit night how I love my knit night
knit night knit night, it's so much fun.

So at the end of the day I was a little not so spunky because I realized that the state of West Virginia is paying me to have 1st graders move like flies and frogs as they learn about high and low and the relation it has to large and small instruments.

Then, I went to knit night.

Ruth's hat looked great but she wasn't there to try it on- hence no pictures

The yarn store employees realized that every time a new person comes to knit night, I introduce myself and say "I love this yarn store." They made me say, "My name is Becky and I'm a yarnaholic." Then they all said in unison, "Hi Becky." It so cracked me up.

The offered me a blue vest and a smiley face as the yarn store meeter greeter but I said I'd knit my own to save them the trouble and that I'd prefer to be the poster child. Yes, silliness ensued in spite of Mr. DoThisDoThat.

I got little knitting done, as I was trying to recover (via LYS spending spree) from the realization of what my job really is. I did get enough yarn to finish the CPH. I got a couple of new books and some knitting wisdom from Debbie which will just have to wait for tomorrow.

More thoughts on my too big stash of discontinued Rowan 4-ply

The thoughts on the Rowan 4-ply are greatly appreciated. Let the contest continue! It's not so much that I can't think of something to knit. More, I am completely unfamiliar with what will work with this weight of yarn.

Yarnhog described it best in the comments when she said
4-ply is a little finer than sport weight, which is finer than dk, which is finer than worsted.

The other struggle I faced relates to what kmkat said
I am a bit confused as to the weight of this yarn. Many knit it like a DK or worsted weight yarn on US#6 - 8s, but the endpaper mitts and several pairs of socks were done on US#1s

Guerseygal said what I had experienced when she said
I definitely would NOT use it for socks - it has no memory at all and the pair I made actually tore when I pulled them on in a hurry! I have seen several lovely shawls in it but I would be wary of making a sweater in this yarn unless you want it to be baggy.

I didn't try socks but now realize that I had blocked out (no pun intended) the nightmare that was Knit and Tonic's Flair done in this yarn. Droopy it was (in spite of getting gauge-one of the first times I actually checked!) Check "Flair" on the sidebar if you dare!

Things I had not yet thought of include doubling the yarn- I do have plenty to double- and/or possibly some fair isle. It is a nice combination of colors. Of course, I'm a big enough idiot that if I don't think it through, I'll try to do both at the same time.

A Contest! A Contest!

Some time last March, I was on ebay checking out the sales at the "Cucumber Patch" (a fiber source in the UK) and decided that I needed to buy several skeins of Rowan. This was my first on-line yarn purchasing adventure and I was overcome by the easy access and instant gratification.

Since then I have used only one of the lots purchased for a vest. It was Rowanspun chunky and it was a happy FO.

At the time, I did not pay attention to the type of yarn I was buying and ended up with a large quantity of Rowan 4-ply in various beautiful shades.

The problem- I have no idea what to do with it. Each lot contains about 1600 yds. I am giving away the whole lot (10 skeins/162 yd ea) of the color "sludge" (the only one that hasn't been swatched in one way or another because I was saving it for when I finally figured something out.)

Tell me what can be done with Rowan 4-ply and win a prize. Random drawing to be held next Sunday September 16. Advertise the contest on your blog and let me know and you'll get a second entry in the drawing. The picture here shows the yarn to be a little greener than it is in real life. The gauge is US 3 4"=26-28 stitches and 36-40 rows. If it's worsted, it's definitely on the skinny side.



Just an update- The top of my latest neverending wip is now being referred to in my head as the "Mangled Joke." There are too many errors to have it even come close to Eunny's version. I've come to accept my current limitations on this project and will finish it, not referring to it's actual name again. It will be something. Just not exactly what the pattern suggested.

On the other hand, it's made the start of the Central Park Hoodie seem like a stockinette scarf and I'm learning how to cable without a needle thanks to the suggestions and references of those more skilled than myself.

CMUS dreams...

I know Miss Manners says it's rude to share dreams with other people but... Last night I had a dream that I was on an Alaskan Knitting cruise. We were sailing in cold waters and I was trying to get my sweater finished in time so that I wouldn't be too cold. It was so exciting. I'm certain this melty weather is the cause.

Having never been on a cruise, I can't really imagine a knitting one or for that matter any kind at all- anyone have any cruise ship stories to share?

directions

Please slap me in the forehead and call me stupid. Who do I think I am? A 4-circle knitter? When did I decide that I could just slowly finish up one intermediate/advanced sweater and start swatching on the second. And yet... where else in life is it possible to take such risks? What's the harm?

I've finished half of the code for th TYC row that was kicking my ass earlier. I'm heading toward the finish line slowly but relatively steadily.

Last night I swatched some Cascade 220 Heathers (dark green and black) for... are you ready... the Central Park Hoodie. Now I realize I'm behind the times but this is really the sweater that made me want to knit sweaters and oh how glad I am that I
didn't start my career with it.

It would appear that TYC is a good pre-project for the CPH. One cable chart of 18 rows versus 3 different cable charts with 12 rows.

I've seen some on-line optionss/adjustments to the pattern for doing it in the round (that sounds a little obscene) but as a rule follower I am disinclined to break the rules of the IK design. Any other advice/encouragement/discouragement would be well appreciated- I'm guessing there are multiple pages of this kind of thing on Ravelry, but alas, I'm still in Ravelry Purgatory.

it's just ruth in a hat

The photo below is of Ruth (from Knit Night) in a pre-felted hat. We're thinking it's going to have to do some serious felting. Really it should count as this weeks Crack (me up) Saturday post.

Warning: Kid-Back to School-Pregnant Woman anecdote ahead.

So my friend (baby kimono) returned to school 7 1/2 months pregnant and her kindergarteners are fairly sure that there is an egg in her belly that's going to have to come out and then hatch. Also she reported that yesterday a second one asked "Why are you so fat?" To get the conversation away from how babies are born, she started a little conversation on manners. "Can you think of what you might say instead?" she asked. "Why are you so fat, please?" was the reply!

Gnitte Gnyyte

All I'm sayin' for now is get the tune to "Fishheads Fishheads Roly Poly Fishheads" in your head because I feel some inspiration on the horizon.

FO Moebius

Malabrigo Moebius k, yo, k2tog pattern. I even did what EZ said and picked out the stitches at the end so that it could be kitchnered together. There are one or two presents to the Knitting Goddess but this yarn was a dream and this moebius will be my best friend when the North Wind blows.

Cable Exploration- boldly going...

Hooray for Jennifer for boldly playing, trying and naming (GBCAC) yesterday's "This is a what if, o.k.?" I also tried it at the top of the felted bag and it was kind of cool the way it pulled everything to the right and gave the bag a shape. I see more experimentation in my future.

Here's how it ended up



One thing that I learned (that I really should have known already) is that some colors felt more beautifully than others. I'm not so impressed with the way this one looks, but it was fast and interesting. I'm thinking that if one were to change where the needle was in the middle of yesterday's what if, you might get sort of a branching cable like on a tree. That is for another day.

Today I have to follow this secret code if (that is self-abbreviated Eunny's pattern is pictoral-I'm more verbal) if I want to make progress on the Strangeld Web (I call it that because there are so many searching for it and then they get to my site and well...) Get out your cable decoder rings.

{2nf(2,2)x1nb(2,1)2nf(2,2)2nb(2,2)xx} 12x's and knit center and then {xx2nf(2,2)2nb(2,2)2nf(1,2)x2nb(2,2)} 12x's.

This is a What if, o.k.?

In high school, to kill time, we used to play "What If?" The introduction was always, "this is a what if, o.k.?"

I have a knitting what if that I might try later but maybe I"ll see what' you make of it before I do.

What if cable directions said- Slip 6 stitches onto cable needle, hold in back. Knit next 3 stitches from left needle, knit 3 stitches from cable needle, (3 stitches remain on cable needle) Knit 3 stitches from left needle, knit remaining 3 stitches from cable needle

Is there such a thing?

A CLARIFICATION! This is not in any pattern that I have that's why I called it a What if. I'm just making stuff up and wondering if it's a thing. If you find it in any design, it will probably only be when I'm a famous designer in 75 years.

Lookin' for Mojo at the LYS

I started what I'm calling the "not wool not vest" I still had an error after casting on and not paying attention for the eleventybazillionth time. An extra knit row at the bottom, but I think I'll learn to like the little curl it makes. This is a simple pattern with chunky yarn No sleeves. Cable up through the turtle neck (though I may stop cabling early and let it roll down) in the round. Didn't check for gauge- using exact yarn called for- I laugh in the face of the Knitting Goddess.



The most interesting thing regarding this attempt is the struggle with sizing (I know- why bother if you're not even going to check for gauge.) Knitting Daily has been posting the garments from the latest Interweave Knits issue done in different sizes on different women, describing the ease and discussing negative ease. I can't say exactly what I've learned from it other than to see someone with a waist larger than myself wearing a size smaller than I would knit for myself and looking good in it encourages me to believe the numbers a little bit more.

Playing with felt from the 30% off bin


With such not so great mojo going on, I wasn't going to pay full price for any fiber. I went to the "treasure chest" and got myself some pretty wool to play with felting. The one on the left is 144 yds of Debbie Bliss Soho. I used the basic bottom of the bag structure of the infamous Postal Bag and I think I'm going to try to knit in the handles by casting some off and then adding stitches. How can one screw up a pattern if there isn't one? That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

The one on the right is one of 2 skeins (270 yds total) of artful yarns in a color that would never occur to me. I'll try something else felted and if it's really not me, find someone to give it to at the holidays.

The Strangled Web (as Opposed to Tangled Yoke) plods along- There are really only 18 rows of yoke-I'm just a whiner. I only have 14 rows left and 7 of them are all purl. This too shall pass.

CMUS (the aliens will fix it)

In the course of our regular Saturday morning discourse over coffee, Great Husband Bob (GHB) shared some of the random half asleep/half awake thoughts he had.

He said, "Here's a movie idea... it can be a movie about global warming and in the end the aliens come and fix it for us. People will believe it and we'll just say the only condition is that they want a big party when they get here and everyone should send me balloons to get ready."

I said, "good idea- you should call a movie producer."

He said, "I was thinking more it would work better on a blog somewhere."

So I'm not sure if CMUS is about aliens fixing global warming or more about the extent to which GHB will go to get a mention on the blog.

There's a mild knitting funk in the air. I can work about 2 rows of TY at a time before I have to stop and regroup. I've relaxed a great deal about it being perfect and may end up with a broken tangled yoke. Even if the yoke isn't perfect, I think I'm going to end up with a sweater in a lovely tweed that actually fits which will be a first.

I have the anti-Midas touch on everything else I start and the projects that are WIP's are feeling like two week old leftovers to me. I'm not feeling the love so much. Clearly I need a trip to the LYS and I'm not about to wait until knit knight.