Molecular Knitting

I’ve got a brand new yarn bowl! (This line can be sung to the melody of “I’ve got a golden ticket!” from the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, and it can make you very happy. However, I don’t recommend singing this in front of a non-knitter spouse.)

I bought this from the Knit Witch. I got the idea from Cristi, who is constantly flaunting her yarn bowls on her blog, Turtlegirl’s Bloggy Thing. When I started knitting with the giant ball of Corvid BFL Sport, I knew I needed some yarn management, and this yarn bowl works wonderfully! I am so pleased I used a little Christmas money to buy it. It’s a beautiful blue inside!

And speaking of Cristi influences, she knits gorgeous socks, especially with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock sock yarn. So naturally I had to get some. And now I’ve got my first pair of 2010 socks.

That’s Mediumweight STR in Faulty Dyer, which is a quirky but happy colorway. There’s an odd bit of green, but I love the warm yellow and the coral with the dark burgundy. I made this “pattern” up at 56-st for the leg and 52 for the foot on US 2 needles. It’s a simple P2,K2,P1,K2 rib and an Eye of Partridge heel flap.
2009 was not a banner sock year. I knit only 5 pairs last year for myself, and I had 3 old pairs bite the dust. AND my wonderful Gothic Rose Embossed Leaves got a big HOLE in the cuff the first time I put them on to actually wear (I have to fix this, but we’ll discuss that another time). So in 2009 I gained one pair of socks. I’ve had to buy socks at Target. The shame! Plus I don’t like them very much.

This year, I want a new pair each month! I have three singles, so my plan is to start with those. As soon as I get the month’s sock done, I can knit on whatever other socks I want for the rest of that month. I hope then each month, I only have a single sock that has to get knit to get a new pair. We’ll see how it goes, but February is off to a good start, because I’ve got half the cuff done on the second Retro Rib Sock in Knit Picks Essential Tweed in Oxblood blue.

Knit on!

Well, this sweater has been done for a while; I’ve worn it many times. However, it was hard to find a non-rainy-foggy day to take some photos. We finally got ONE sunny day, so in the morning I stood at the edge of the muddy field of winter wheat next to our building and Michael took some photos.

All in all, the sweater’s a success with caveats. The pattern, Nubby Cardigan, from the Autumn ‘08 Knitscene was great, and I was excited to knit a sweater by designer Deborah Newton, whose book, Designing Knitwear, was a major inspiration when I was a newbie knitter. It was easy and fun to knit, and I think I did a bang-up job on the knitting, and my best job yet on the finishing. I’ve come to enjoy matress stitch–it’s like magic!


The collar hides the raglan sleeve shaping, and it’s those raglan sleeves that are the problem. It took me a while to figure out why the sweater wasn’t as comfortable as I thought it should be. It’s big enough around, but the armsyce for the raglan sleeves is too shallow. I’m long from collar bone to bust, and I need more length there. The sweater doesn’t hang properly for long. I also have to wear it buttoned or it starts to fall off my shoulders due to the heaviness of the gigantic collar. So, here in California, it’s only good for very cool days.

On the plus side, I like the Lamb’s Pride Worsted very much. A lot of knitters don’t seem to like single ply yarns, for reasons I don’t understand. This was fine to knit with, and the cables and textured stitch pattern worked very well. It’s also taking hard wearing pretty well too. The colors this yarn comes in are so rich, I’m sure I’ll make something else with it in the future. And I love the Jonah buttons I bought from Shelby of Heartstone Creations. They are ceramic and durable. Many’s the time I’ve taken the sweater off and dropped in on my desk at work and heard the buttons plink on the desktop, but they have remained chip free and as good as new.

In summary, I’m glad I knit the sweater; it was fun. I love the color and the buttons, and it keeps me nice and warm on a cool day. I just won’t knit straight raglans anymore. Good thing I don’t mind setting in sleeves!

The “little grey cells” have been letting me down lately. My counting skills have degenerated to those of ancient humans, which had only three numbers: one, two, and more than two.

I got started with the giant ball of yarn from my last post, which is the Corvid species of BMFA Raven series in BFL Sport. I originally bought the yarn to knit Audrey in Unst (it is the yarn called for in the pattern), and when I opened the box, I thought, “This is NOT sport weight.” It isn’t. The label says 4-5 spi on US 8 needles. That’s worsted! Ravelry calls it DK and the BMFA lists it as “variable.” Yes, well, not good for Audrey, but wonderful for Frost Diamonds by Stefanie Japel from the Winter ‘09 Knitty.
I cast on, knit chart A, started chart B, and then I lost my ability to count. Row 3 of Chart B took me an HOUR. I think I’ve fixed it. I’ll count tomorrow. I don’t know what happened.
Today, in the 10 min of sun we got between waves of downpours, I got this photo. You can actually see the greens and purples in the yarn. It might be a good thing that the lace pattern is hard to discern.

So to keep from having to twiddle my thumbs, I did some stash busting, and started a Josephine Shawl with some SWTC Karaoke yarn. It’s all garter, people. Just one little YO one stitch in along one side.

The YOs form the hypotenuse of the right triangle (the needle cable is in the lower right leg stitches), so the stripes are at an unusual angle for a triangular shawl. I only have 4 skeins (436 yd), so we’ll see how big this gets. But I can safely say, it will be big enough to wear in some way, and that yarn will be out of my stash.
I’m keeping this project in a new bag my brother gave me for Christmas. He does a lot of photography, so he took this photo of my family’s cat, Katrina, and used a photo transfer to put it on the bag. Isn’t it a cute bag! Thanks, Bunky! You’re my only favorite brother!

Now if only Katrina wouldn’t hiss at me when we visit. Since I got her two of her most favorite (after food) things in life–liberty to roam the entire house at night and a combing with a fine tooth comb to decrease hairballs everyday–you would think she would purr and be friendly. But, no, just hissing, just for me. Perhaps her little grey cells are out of order too.

What do you do when the sun refuses to shine for the seventy bazillionith day in a row, it’s either foggy or raining outside all the time, and you can’t decide what large project you should start knitting? Why, teach yourself magic loop and knit yourself a cowl! At least that’s what I did, since I hate/loathe/can’t stand and despise knitting with a 16-inch circ. I even used yarn from “deep stash” (i.e. can’t remember where I bought it or when)!

I used the video tutorial from www.knittinghelp.com, and it was very helpful, especially as the tutorial lady and I knit continental. I then cast on for the Norfolk Island Pine Cowl that I found on Ravelry. On the third try, I had success! The first try, I didn’t give myself enough “nascent” loop at the end of the right needle, so I couldn’t make the circle tight. The second time I thought I had twisted the stitches, but on the third try, when I thought that again, I realized I hadn’t either time. Then it was zippy fast to the end.

Rose quartz on the left, cowl on the right!
When it’s too warm outside to wear it, I can use it as soft sculpture on our mantle.

Pattern: Norfolk Island Pine Cowl by Saccade Elyse (see link above)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Limeade (although if offered limeade this green, I wouldn’t drink it); used about half the skein
Needles: US 8, 40-inch circular
Mods: Knit 8 instead of 10 repeats of the lace

Here’s one last look with the 660 yd ball of BMFA BFL Sport yarn in Corvid from the Raven Series that I wound up to start a big project.

It’s a big ball of yarn!

Well, after 2 weeks of overcast skies in California, M and I spent the holidays in Illinois and Wisconsin, dodging blizzards and arctic blasts. We came back to CA on New Year’s Eve, and for the next 48 hours I  despaired that we would never see the sun again. But late Sunday afternoon, the skies cleared (briefly)! I put on my striped shirt and my Glace vest, and I coerced M into taking some photos out on our patio.

My eyes are all squinty; the sun must be shining!

This turned out better than I expected it to. I really thought it would be horribly small, but other than perhaps making the ribbing a tiny bit longer, I wouldn’t change a thing.

I liked the construction, which did the ribbing across the front, split for the V-neck, rejoined with a back-of-the-neck stitches cast on and then knit down the back to the bottom edge. The only finishing was seaming the ribbing together at the sides. Very neat!

The pattern called for Rowan RYC Silk Cotton, which I did not have, but I did have more than enough Valley Yarns Goshen, so I used that instead. Goshen is much more drapey than the Rowan yarn (which my blogless/Ravelry-photoless friend Elsie used to make her Glace). I think the greater structure of the Silk/Cotton from Rowan works better in this application, otherwise, I didn’t have any problems with the Goshen. It’s not my favorite shade of pink by any measure, but, hey, it matched the light-colored stripes in my shirt.

Here’s the look M got when he told me to “run your hands through your hair and pout for the knit blog.” I think shooting with the DSLR camera is going to his head a bit.

Stats:
Pattern: Glace from Rowan Classic Summer Delights. Size to fit 36-38 bust.
Yarn: Goshen from Valley Yarns (Webs); 48% Peruvian Cotton/46% Modal (rayon)/6% silk; color 05, mauve; 6 skeins; 92 yd/skein
Needles: Addi Turbo, US 8
Modifications: I did not knit the ribbing on smaller needles, as I am not a 36-38 around the top of my hips.

I’d like to knit this again in a wooly yarn, but who knows when I’ll get to that!
Well, three more FOs to go to wrap up the 2009 handknits. Let’s hope for some more sun, or at least not gloom.

I have five FOs, everyone! FIVE! See…

Clockwise from lower left: Peak Island Hood, Nubby Cardigan, Glace vest, Delicato mitts and gift socks.

But this has been the weather for days and days and days…

Soggy Weather

Therefore, it’s been nigh impossible to take photos of the FOs with me wearing them. The mitts are a gift, and the cardigan and vest fit just fine, so I am pleased. The Peak Island Hood may not be long for this world, but I’ll save that and modeled shots of all the FOs for posts in the new year.

In three days we leave for the frozen Midwest to visit family, but no worries, M’s grandma’s socks (brown was requested) are done!

So what to take to knit for the 12 days we’ll be gone? Well, the purple-grey stripey yarn I got for my birthday is going, and this sock I’ve started with STR mediumweight in Faulty Dyer is going:

I’ve just started Rivolo by Anne of Knitspot in LL Shepherd Sock in Mixed Berries:

And using the shaping of Frost Diamonds by Stefanie Japel (the lace would be too hard for travel knitting) from the Winter Knitty, I’ve started a small version with fleck stitch instead of the lace. The yarn is Fleece Artist Casbah in Seashore (10% cashmere–very nice).

M and I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, and if you are traveling we wish you good roads, connections and a safe journey!
Merry Christmas! See you in 2010.

Last week Tuesday, November 10, was my 46th birthday. It was a wonderful day thanks to M especially and all my friends and family! It was an odd birthday, in that it is the only one I can remember in which I didn’t receive a single book (parents are retired literature teachers). I made up for this by ordering The Knitter’s Book of Wool by Clara Parkes that evening. But I did get some sock yarn for presents. I also got a 50 mm lens for our new camera that I can use at f/1.4 if I need to. I thought Santa Claus was going to bring that lens, but M worked it out with Santa so I wouldn’t have to wait. They’re both great guys in my book. But lets look at the yarn photographed with my new lens.

From my friend ELC, I got two skeins of sock yarn:

Berroco Sox in a purple-pink-grey stripey combo. I am so in the mood for stripey socks!
And to match a spring sweater I own that is bright green, she gave me a skein of Tofutsies, as she knows I like it for warmer weather socks. I am thinking of knitting the Insidious socks by limedragon with this yarn (Rav link).

When my SIL, Teresa, asked what I would like, I suggested a skein of STR lightweight in whichever multicolor wave colorway she chose. That way I’d get a skein of STR lightweight, which I haven’t had (crazy, I know!), but the color would be a surprise. She chose Sea Mar which has some lovely, soft colors.

Now I’ve told myself that if I knit for 30 min on some Christmas gift socks for M’s grandmother, I can then cast on the Berroco stripey socks. It will mean that some single socks may wait a little longer for a mate, but the stipes can’t wait!

After about six months of discussion and dithering, M and I bought a digital SLR camera last week. Long ago I’d had a film SLR camera, and I missed what it could do that even my fancy point-and-shoot couldn’t. So we are now owners of a Canon Rebel T1i, and we are enjoying it immensely and learning how to make it do what we want.

Sunday we took it on a walk along the American River in Sacramento on the Jedidiah Smith Loop Trail.

The Trail
Since it was a loop trail and the American River is long, we had to cross the river on a bridge. As a general rule, I am not fond of crossing bridges, but I was brave.

I wasn’t supposed to block the sun with the bridge beam’s shadow, however. M had to do some Aperture magic to make me have any face at all. But the view from the Guy West Pedestrian Bridge was lovely.

At home, I even managed to get a photo, albeit blurry, of our shy neighbor, Oliver.

“I am not here. You cannot see me. I am a plant not an orange kitty.” Oliver.
Before I could get another shot, he was over the fence.

And then, the camera seems to take lovely shots of yarn.

Handmaiden Casbah in Seashore

I’ve had very little time or energy for knitting in the past few weeks, but I did manage to finish my Embossed Leaves socks. My favorites!

What a pretty sock this pattern makes! I especially like the star toe completing the shape of the final leaves. I did a few mods, mostly based upon mods Weezalana does. She knits wonderful socks (among other things); if you don’t follow her blog and you love to knit socks, you are missing out! For mods, I did a long-tailed, not tubular, cast-on, as I couldn’t make the picture in the book and the written directions mean the same thing, and I wasn’t in the mood to fuss. I didn’t break the yarn at the heel–I couldn’t see why that was a good idea (weaving in ends is fun?). I decreased the purl stitches between repeats and at the edge of the instep so my sock foot was 60 not 64 stitches, so when I got to the toe, I didn’t decrease in the first decrease round, just purled for P2tog. I also knit the first three repeats of the leg on size 2 needles, the second three on size 1.5 needles and then switched to size 1 for the remainder.

Best of all the Dream in Color Smooshy in Gothic Rose matches my new shoes, whose color is listed on the box as Vampire Red. My feet are trying to go Goth.

I really love the Smooshy yarn. The color saturation is wonderful, and the twist is superb. It is very soft, yet it makes a very firm fabric at 8 spi, and it doesn’t look too thin at a looser gauge in the leg. I am hoping this bodes well for the longevity of these socks.

Perhaps soon we will have weather cool enough for me to wear them!

I do not have a true LYS. We had two: one run by a wonderful lady and one run by a different lady. The wonderful lady got pregnant with triplets and closed. I bought a lot of yarn in her store. The other lady closed her store for reasons unknown, and I didn’t buy anything at her deep discount, going out of business sale. I think you get the picture. About a month ago I found out that Vacaville (only 20 miles away) had a yarn store, called Spin A Yarn. This past weekend I checked it out. Not knowing anything about the store, I didn’t take my camera, but you can get a good idea by clicking the link above. Parri, the owner, was very friendly and welcoming and happy to let me browse. There was a nice selection of yarn, and I picked out a few goodies to buy:

Parri said many of her customers just had to have Mini Mochi to knit a diagonal scarf, and I think I will do something similar. It is very soft and pretty–the color saturation is fantastic, but I’m not sure the single ply would make good socks. But I know my other purchase will make great socks:

This is my beloved CTH Supersock in a “lottery” color. The skein looked a wee bit bedraggled, but it was very clean, and I liked this Easter-colored mix. I am not in general a pastel fan, but these colors were clear and soft without being cutesy. I’ll be shopping at Parri’s shop again!
After I got home, Kitty No. 34 stopped by and sat on my lap. She does this when she wants her chin scritched (and when I am wearing both dark and light colored clothes so maximum shedding shows). She is a purring machine.

Of course, I purr magnificently! How could such a wonderful cat like myself do anything less splendid?

Later, there was a gorgeous sunset.

I’d like a sock yarn with all those colors!