Week 4 Progress Report, Sweater 2

A little backwards progress this week. It had become obvious that the flashing and pooling was a real issue. Like most knitting issues, if I had accepted reality a little earlier, it would have been a quicker fix. There are several ways to deal with flashing and pooling, and the best way here was to back up to the start of the new skein and alternate two skeins.

All of the skeins are the same dye lot. For reasons that remain mysterious, the first skein did not pool. I tried a randomized sample of the other skeins, and they all pooled. So alternating skeins was the answer.

I'm not sure it's completely clear in these close ups, but in the first picture above, the original fabric, when viewed from a distance, created large blue blobs all over the sweater. Breaking up that pooling with the other skein gave me the more randomized result in the second picture, which is much more what I was going for.

And I bet you anything I will have to continue doing this up the sleeves and on either side of the front. Because while the other way to deal with pooling is to change the number of stitches, I don't believe for a moment that the number of stitches I drop down to will stripe in a nice, randomized manner.

Week 4 Progress Report, Sweater 1

This week's exciting discovery was that the increases occur almost four times as rapidly as I thought they did, which means that I am already halfway done with them. And when they're done - next week - I get to start the sleeves!

I realize it looks about the same as last time. And I keep having to move further away to get it all in the frame. But it really is growing!

Week 3 Progress Report, Sweater 2

I have nearly achieved the elusive 15 inches. I am knitting exactly to gauge, and could just count rows, but I'm taking a belt-and-suspenders approach, and measuring as well. I am also using up the yarn at about the rate I expected to, which is nice.

New yarn has been arriving, which makes sticking to projects that are in the boring stage a bit difficult. Onward!

Week 3 Progress Report, Sweater 1

First waist increase done. This is definitely the boring part.

Meanwhile, I made some facecloths. I'm really sorry that Bernat Gloucester has been discontinued. It was a nice soft cotton with no excess plant matter in it at all.

The pattern is nalhcib's Pearl Brioche Dishcloth #12, which was easily memorized and produced a lovely squishy fabric. I chose to work it on US 8 (5.00 mm) because I find a more openwork cotton cloth dries more thoroughly.

Week 2 Progress Report, Sweater 2

Coming along, slowly but surely. I'm almost through the second skein. It's maddening that identical dye lots knit up differently on the same number of stitches, same needles, and despite countless efforts to start at the same place in the color scheme.

Week 2 Progress Report, Sweater 1

Waist decreases done, now working on the main body of the sweater. Stripes and the occasional increase are the only things happening until I reach the bottom of the neck opening. But it's going fast.

And when it's time to start the sleeves, I get to start over with the rust and green again!

Week 1 Progress Report, Sweater 2

Moving right along, but smaller gauge and flat pieces means it will take a little longer than the other. I do love the color changes in the yarn.

I moved it off onto a circular needle right after I took the picture; it clearly needed more room to breathe. I'm getting gauge, though. No surprise, after actually making a swatch.

The stitch markers are serving as hemming pins - I was going to sew the hem, then decided to sew the side seams first. I have no idea why. Not having a pattern means I can do what I want.

Week 1 Progress Report, Sweater 1

I have completed stage 1:

and stage 2:

It looks a little bit like a whale, I think.  It's a fantastic pattern, very clearly written and illustrated. When I misread an instruction as "with both right sides facing" instead of reading ahead to the next line, which added "you," it was my own fault. And no harm done, since at no time did I think it really wanted me to do the former.

I also discover that this poor designer has had her pattern hijacked and cheap knock-offs of the sweater are advertised on FB scam ads which - adding insult to injury - use one of the photos from someone on Ravelry who has made the sweater. Intellectual property theft from two different knitters.

New Beginnings

How long does it take to knit a sweater? How about two? Requests for sweaters in hand, with no expectation on anyone's part that I will finish before Christmas, we begin.

Yarn purchased:

Yarn wound:

Let the wild rumpus commence! (I'm not taking sides in the "start vs. begin" quote war brought on by different editions of a children's classic. Life is too short.)

And you're quite right, that lovely rust is not enough for the first sweater. Other colors will appear in due course.

It's Been a Hot Minute

This poor sweater has been languishing for decades. There were two sweaters that I wanted to make in the Spring/Summer 1991 issue of Vogue Knitting. I never finished the other one, either. We moved, and then we moved again, and then life happened, and... I recently dug it out and discovered that all it needed was the other sleeve attached, the collar knit, buttons sewn on, and the matching hat made.

The hat is a hoot. It's such an odd shape lying flat, but it looks great on the kid in the pattern picture, so I think I just need to find a four-year-old model. The instructions said to knit the hem, purl a row for the fold, knit the outside, and sew it down later. Twenty years on, I know a better trick then that - when it was time, I just knit the first and last rows together.

I'm somewhat astonished that in all these years I never lost the project, the yarn, the instructions, or even the buttons! Tiny German sailboats:

The yarn has yellowed with age and sunlight along the exposed edge, and I don't think it will wash out; maybe the rest of the sweater will age to match. Or maybe it will just assure some young mother that sweaters, even white ones, are for playing in and getting dirty.

Needles: US 8 (5.00 mm)
Yarn: Bernat's Gloucester Cotton in Natural (discontinued)
Pattern: Carey Nicholson's #16 Child Cardigan and Beret
Mods: None that I remember, other than the aforementioned hemming hack

Slouch Hat

Most of the Flower Garden leftovers went into a bag for a future project, but I had enough of the pink to try a pattern I've had my eye on for quite some time. It was, as I suspected, fun to make, and I'm pleased with the result. My yarn was Aran weight instead of Worsted weight, but the hat fits, and is just a little slouchier than planned.

Needles: US 8 (5.00 mm)
 - it did not fit easily on dpns, so as soon as it was 2" in length I switched to a circular
 - the circular was too long to just start the hat on; I don't understand why knitted material stretches better once it's a couple of inches long, but I'm glad it does

Yarn: I Love This Yarn! in Hyacinth and Soft Pink
- I had the total yardage called for, but a little less of the Soft Pink than required, so I wound up switching to just the other color at the end

Pattern: Amanda Muscha's Mint Chocolate Beanie

Flower Garden

My enthusiasm for hexagons wound down just as I finished the second blanket - good timing! There's yet a third layout I want to try, but I'm okay with taking a hexagon break for a while. This layout is called Grandmother's Flower Garden, and I'm reliably informed that it's an old quilting pattern.

Needles: US 8 (5.00 mm)
Yarn: partial skeins of I Love This Yarn! in Navy, Dark Country Blue, Soft Blue, Dark Raspberry, Hyacinth, Soft Pink, Forest Green, Light Sage, and Orchid
Pattern: Vicki Mikulak's Knitted Hexagon Blankie

Into the Light

I finally got around to blocking this shawl. I had forgotten that it was Icelandic wool until I was pinning it out and marveling at the change in texture of the yarn - right! Ístex! (Do Icelandic sheep fluff up in the rain?) It blocked out beautifully, and I am really pleased with it.

I was a little nervous about the blocking, since the spiral shaping convinced me that blocking wires were going to be no help at all. I had read someone else's advice not to be concerned if there was overlap. I didn't understand until I began to pin it out. I quickly realized that the lacy edge was what mattered - I didn't really need to pin out the inner edge at all. I also decided to pin out the petals, not the crochet chain edging, having seen lots of versions where pinned-out loops became sharp zig-zags.  Three-quarters of the way around I realized I was going to wind up on top of the beginning. Overlap. No problem.

Needles: US 4 (3.5mm)
Yarn: Ístex Einband: 6 g Black Heather, 3 g Dunkelgrau, 27.5 g Grey Heather, 52 g Hellgrau, 50 g White
Pattern: Carfield Ma's Begonia Swirl
Mods: Other than the color changes, none.

NKD saw it folded up and commented that it would be really cool to have a skirt like that. So I took a picture and filed the inspiration away for another day.

Time to Restart the Carousel

I feel as though no projects are getting finished. Of course not, you say, you've done nothing but knit hexagons for a month, what did you expect? I'm thinking of setting up the project carousel knitting bag again, because so many things are close to being finished, but the hexagons beckon constantly.

This will go in it: two months later, and only grown by an inch:

Still a Busy Bee

These hexagons want to be flowers.

This is slightly ridiculous. It’s not as if I don’t have other things to knit. But hexagons are soothing.

Gentleman Socks, Revisted

Last year I started some socks for DH. They turned out to be one of those perfect match-ups of yarn and pattern, but sadly, 100 grams of fingering weight yarn does NOT equal one pair of socks for DH.

I set them aside with vague notions about finding other yarn for the heels and toes, but eventually I just frogged them, and let the sting of failure slowly fade.

And then I cast on again. Same yarn, same pattern. For me.

Oversaturated with light because it's the only hope of seeing tiny stitches in black yarn

This is my travel knitting, so progress will be relatively slow compared to other projects.

Not filled with honey, though

I seem to be addicted to making hexagons.

Maybe I am secretly a bee.

Hexagons. Lots of Hexagons.

I like simple knitting on vacation. Last year, I used up tons of leftover Simply Soft by knitting hexagons, getting 20 from each color. I laid them out on my dining room table to decide on a layout, took a picture for reference, and started sewing.

I hate sewing. I have just now finished up this crib-sized blanket.

And I have a few ends to weave in. I think I’ll try the “join as you go” method for the next one.

Yarn: US 8 (5.00 mm)
Needles: Caron Simply Soft, 0.9 skeins each of Soft Blue, Persimmon, Lavender Blue, and Sage
Pattern: Vicki Mikulak’s Knitted Hexagon Blankie.

Begonias have Stubby Petals

Once upon a time, when the internet was new and shiny, there was a recipe site where people put up recipes, and other people made the recipes and commented on how they turned out, or what they added to improve the recipe in their eyes. Over time, certain commenters became a bit of a family joke. “I made this peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I swapped out the peanut butter for mayo and the jelly for mustard, and at the last minute stuck in some ham and cheese I had on hand, and it was delicious!” I’m sure it was, but at that point were you really making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

This happens in the knitting world too, and because there are no Knitting Police (or Food Police, for that matter), Ravelry adapted itself to let you include on your project page all the things that inspired your creativity. “I was inspired by this pattern, but I used this collar, and this stitch pattern, and cropped it and made it a cardigan.”

Modifications open up our creativity. Some are corrective - a line or stitch was left out and not caught by the pattern editors; some are adaptive - I’m never going to k3tog in worsted weight cotton, too painful!; some are preference - I like my way of making buttonholes; some are exploratory - what would happen if I did THIS?

And some make me laugh. Not get annoyed - life is immensely too short to get annoyed about what other people are making. But some knitters comment on their pattern changes as if they were making corrective changes without ever noticing what the designer was trying to do.

Case in point: I’ve been making a shawl with the pattern name Begonia Swirl. It was easy to see where the swirl came in, as it increases in a spiral pattern. And clearly the flowery lace edging was where the begonia came in. Having never seen a begonia, I was all about checking them out at a recent visit to a botanical garden. “Ah,” I thought. “Cute little stubby petals.”

When I got to the end of the shawl I discovered it called for an unusual-to-me bind off, and I checked in to see what help other Ravelers could be. The first thing I discovered was the surprising number of knitters who couldn’t understand why the designer had failed to bring the petals to a point, and their advice on how to do so. I admired their Tulip Swirl results, and investigated further.

Many had made the adaptive/preference choice to avoid crochet as a blot upon needlecraft, and had lots of advice on what bind off to use instead. But by now I was firmly on the side of the designer, so I watched the recommended video and read the notes of people who tried it, and finally, tried it myself. Delightful! (But unblocked. Also, no bears were harmed in the taking of this photo.)

Podgy

I was looking for something else to do with the pink fingering yarn in the last post when I stumbled upon this pattern, which also just happened to call for the amount of fingering  yarn I thought I was going to make low-cut socks out of. I ripped out that half-made sock without a second thought. This is so cute! And such a delightful vacation project - it’s been everywhere with me.

Yarn: Fingering weight leftovers, probably KnitPicks Stroll and Koigu
Needles: 2.5 mm dpns
Pattern: pezi888’s delightful Knubbelchen
Mods: none
I would cast on another right now if I had the yarn on hand. Knubbelig means podgy, which is kind of funny given that he’s so flat.

I’m on Vacation

Keeping my knitting goals small:

P.S. A certain bear makes the best knitted things background EVER.

Kitchen Things

It was time to replace a few dishcloths, the raggedy predecessors of whom have moved on to a life of protecting stacked non-stick pans. It was also more than time for new scrubbies. I decided to make both in my favorite color, and was delighted by how well they match, given that they are different fibers from different companies.

Do You Recognize This Yarn?

I found two equally partial - I feel as though that would make them impartial - skeins tucked away together in my stash, clearly the leftovers from someone's socks. I don't remember ever knitting socks this color, but it's also possible someone gifted me with their leftovers. I'm pretty sure, from the short color-lengths and high twist, that this is Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino.

Wherever it came from, I am grateful to have it, because last week I left the house on three different occasions with no knitting. The restaurant owner where I go for breakfast was shocked. If I can just keep from working on it around the house, I will have travel knitting for the rest of the summer, and a new pair of warm anklets come fall.

Pattern Writing

I've spent the weekend writing out the pattern for some doll clothes that I made. My notes to myself as I made the first set were confusing when revisited for the second set. It turns out that pattern writing is hard, and I have a new respect for the designers who can write clear, unambiguous directions. When I'm done I'll put it up on Ravelry. Not that I know how to do that either, but how hard can it be?

When my little sister was, well, little, she had a doll that Mom sewed clothes for. Later, when Mom was an empty-nester, she bought two similar dolls to sew for, because she enjoyed sewing. The dolls, the patterns, and a box of doll-sized oddments are now at my house, because I have this recurring delusion that sewing is something I will do, be able to do, like to do. (I hate to sew. My children used to go outside to play whenever I had to sew something).

Eventually it dawned on me that I could knit something for them while waiting to wake up blessed by the Sewing Fairy. I knit, and ripped, and tweaked, until I was pleased with the results. Then I was startled to realize I had accidentally re-created the Chanel suit. Huh.

Wikimedia Commons, Chanel Haute Couture Suit, 1965

Edging, at last!

This photo of lace in progress is going to look like lace always does before it is blocked, but it marks a milestone -- it's time to start the edging!

Now that I've read the pattern for the edging, I finally understand why the title of the pattern is Begonia Swirl Shawl. So far I have been making a lovely lace spiral, with no flowers in sight. Turns out they're all on the edge!

I was unfamiliar with begonias until last month, when I got a good look at some at Longwood Gardens. The designer did a decent job of representing them. To my amusement, many knitters have totally undone that representation by adding an extra row so that the flowers come to a point, thereby inventing a sort of tulip swirl shawl. You do you, guys. I'm holding out for begonias.

A Difficult Yarn

I bought this yarn many years ago (it has since been discontinued), for no better reason than that it was pretty in the skein.

I've tried a couple of times to knit it up into a shawl, and never liked the results. So I rewound it back into balls, which resulted in a plaid even prettier than the skeins.

But it knits up into blotches of color, and it's hard to find a pattern that is both fine with that, and okay with lace weight silk.

I think I've done it, though. Stay tuned.

Only Shades of Gray

Sorry about the earworm.

Finished this lovely shawl in lace-weight Icelandic wool, leftovers from my friend's project that she gifted me with (thanks!).

As I expected, the fibers softened and fulled when soaked and blocked, a particular magic of Icelandic wool.

Yarn: Ístex Einband in Black Heather, Dunkelgrau, Grey Heather, Hellgrau, and Ash Heather
Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm)
Pattern: Olga Buraya-Kefelian's Aranami Shawl
Mods: Based on the yarn amounts I had, I chose to work the colors in reverse from the original pattern.

The Knit I Was Looking For

I wanted big yarn on big needles, not just for speed, but to give my hands a break from tiny needles and tiny yarn. Turns out I had just the thing in my Favorites, and then received Yarn Money for my birthday, so I was off to the races!

Folded in half, and then in thirds

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn's Encore Mega in Navy, a super-bulky 75% acrylic/25% wool
Needles: US 15 (10 mm) - the pattern called for 13, but 15 is what I had, and it worked out fine
Pattern: Fifty Four Ten Studio's The Boulevard Blanket
Mods: Since I was using 15s, I cut the number of stitches by 6 to get the width I wanted, and then knit until I was out of yarn. Tinked back 2 rows and cast off. Nice squishy yarn, and in 5 skeins I only encountered one knot and one overspun length. Since the blanket is completely reversible, I tucked in the ends on both sides, as invisibly as possible.

This pattern originally wound up in my Favorites because I want to knit a sweater from my childhood, a navy peacoat in heavy, lanolin-rich wool. Making the blanket didn't do as much to scratch that itch as I had hoped -- the blanket is practically weightless -- so I will continue my search for a peacoat pattern.