May 2006 Archives

It seems there's a guy selling eBooks on eBay that are compilations of free patterns readily found on the internet. He's claiming to have obtained publishing rights, but it appears to be mostly -- if not wholly -- untrue.

If you've published a free pattern you may want to investigate. And if you know someone who has, bring it to their attention too. Here's a link to all of his listings.

And here's the original post that started it all, on the LJ Knitting Community Possibly copyright infringement?

Unfortunately for this guy, one of Girl From Auntie Jenna's patterns was included in his Summer Tops compilation. You can read all about her experiences here. Go Jenna!

While ruminating on Heidi yarn I decided to go for something a bit different. The right Heidi yarn is out there, I just haven't found it yet.

While at the LYS this weekend I found some Classic Elite Four Seasons. Y'all probably know how much I love Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. Well this might just be the classier cousin from up the road. The yarn has a bit more wool in it (30% instead of 25%) and the plies are much tighter. It reminds me of a slighter lighter weight All Seasons Cotton. The recommended gauge is 4.5 or 5 SPI.

This past week I haven't had much time to really knit (the yard project continues in earnest) but I have had time to play around with stitch patterns. The eyelets you see in the pic are for the sleeves. The front and back are plain -- the sleeves give it plenty of interest. I have a little something planned for later on as well, but I haven't quite figured out the details so I'm going to hold off sharing it for now.

The gauge knits up really fast, and I'm hopeful I'll have this one off the needles before Spring ends (it's the first real spring we've had here in years, and I'd like to have another handknit top to wear during it).

Hmmm...me against mother nature. Care to wager any bets on this one?

I had a busy weekend, and hardly knit a stitch.

It started out Friday night at the Manayunk Brewery. It was the end of a loooong week at work and the weather was perfect for sitting out on the deck. For those of you not in the know, "perfect weather" not only means that it was breezy and in the 60s, but also that the creek the Brewery sits above had enough water in it not to be stinky. Those of you in Philly know what I mean, right?

Saturday I spent the day running a bunch of errands, and I fit in a stop at Rosie's. I thought I'd be picking up some Tahki Cotton Classic but they no longer carry it. Instead I picked up some Classic Elite Provence in color 2627 (a nice dark red with blue undertones).

I also got my package from kpixie. I wanted to try out a few more cotton yarns and they had a bunch I can't get locally. I got a skein each of lana grossa point (cotton with a bit of elastic in it), lana grossa stop (viscose microfiber blend with a nice hand), lana grossa toccata (sportweight mercerized mako [huh?] cotton), and karabella vintage cotton (a lovely mercerized cotton). I really like them all and I plan to place another order soon. They're just getting in their Lana Grossa line so a lot of the colors are not in yet.

Saturday night Paul and I spent in AC watching Dave Atell and Jim Norton. It was a decent show but Dave Atell had an off night. I could have left when Jim finished.

So this brings us to Sunday. The weather was beautiful (a little overcast and breezy, but still warm enough for outdoor work) so I decided it would be a great day to redo the front lawn. A quick run to Home Depot for some supplies and by 11am we got started. I estimated 3pm as quitting time, plenty of time to wash up, knit for a few hours and have a nice dinner.

Not a chance. More details and pics in the extended entry...

So, I finished the bodice on Heidi and decided to knit the neck edging so I could feel how it fit without the pins. I went with a frilly ruffle for the edge. Fun and girly, and also -- over 800 stitches to bind off! But I got through it and the ruffle came together really nicely in the linen. It's dense -- almost like crochet -- and stands up really well.

I was antsy to get the feeling of the top once it was all washed though, so I ran it through a full wash and dry cycle. Truthfully, I was concerned about shrinkage even though I had prewashed the yarn. I'd rather know now that I had to add more length than once I was all done.

Well, I had no worried about shrinkage folks. Here's what Heidi looks like after her latest wash and dry (on top of Somewhat Cowl for scale).

Uhm, yeah...a little big wouldn't you say? Can you believe it fit like this before it was washed?

The yarn feels awesome, but the gauge is totally wrong now. The top as knitted is not salvageable. So, I'm going to scrap what I've knit so far and find another yarn for Heidi.

I love the texture of the yarn though so I do think I'll do something with it in the future. For now though, the yarn and I will be taking a much-needed break. And if you're surprised I'm taking this so casually it's because I've had close to a week to accept it before writing this post. Believe me -- I was damn annoyed when I took it out of the dryer last week!

So, I need to find another yarn. The ones I've been considering are:

• Tahki Cotton Classic -- nice price point and damn -- GREAT color selection.
• Elann Esprit -- the elastic could prove to be a very good thing for this top.
• Elann Sonata -- nice color selection and good gauge.
• Knit Picks Shine Sport but I'm not sure about the modal for this design. I have a ball in my stash that I need to swatch.

I'm more excited about the first 2 (Cotton Classic or Esprit) but really, I'm not convinced about any of them yet. I think my ideal yarn would be a DK weight All Seasons Cotton. I'm sure they exist -- any suggestions?

The weekend just flew by! It didn't even dawn on me that the weekend was over until it was 9 and I realized I had missed West Wing (no worries, it was Tivo'd).

This was by far my favorite MDSW. I think you need a couple years practice before you get it right. This year went really well.

Christy* and I arrived at 9:15. On the way down we strategized who to hit first (Tess, since she's close to the entrance), then Socks That Rock (I mean, The Fold), and then there were a few more we wanted to hit but knew we could go at any point -- Brooks, Spirit Trail, Kimmet Croft, Morehouse. We missed Kimmet Croft (were they even there?) but we made it to the rest.

Tess' was as crazy as you'd expect. The Fold (at what? 9:45) was out of most colors already. I'm glad I wanted solids because there was slim pickins for the multi-colors.

I got to meet a few new people too -- Isel who looked so cute in her orangina, Kate (it only took 2 MDSWs to actually meet!), Lolly who is doing fabulously with her diet, and the money-raising queen herself -- Claudia.

So I know you're dying to see what I got. I only had 3 rules to follow:

1. Only buy things that are hard to buy online/in-person during the year.
2. No crazy-dyed sock yarn because I enjoy knitting stitch-patterned-socks a lot more than stockinette/ribbed socks.
3. Don't buy a big quantity for a sweater because I won't use it for at least 5 months and at that point it will become "old" anyway.

Starting at the top:

Row 1

• Pink and white striping yarn for a simple scarf. This was my splurge purchase but I thought it would be fun to knit and wear. The booth was full of EZ-style yoke sweaters knit up in their colorways. The yarn is like a Trekking in that it's a 2 ply and each ply changes color on its own, creating subtly changing stripes. I can't remember their name but they were in the main building in the same aisle as Morehouse (aisle B).
• Tess sock yarn - White with bits of gray.

Row 2

• These are all Tess sock yarn. The first is 2 hanks to make my mom a pair of Jaywalkers. She loves mine and wants a pair, but get this -- in knee highs. I think I know how I'll do the increases but this will be a labor of love. I don't think I've ever knit a pattern twice.

Row 3

• Morehouse Laceweight Quad hank (4 oz) for a Melody Scarf.
• Megaboots sock yarn. I've heard great things about this and none of my LYSs carry it. It's regular sockweight (8 spi) and has elite in it so it's stretchy.
• Trekking in a muted pink palette. I love my Rainy Day Socks and wanted another Trekking to do something similar.
• Brooks Farm Duet in my favorite greens.

Row 4

• Socks that Rock in mostly solids Spruce Green (Spinel) and Tans/Off-Green (Bronze -- a perfect name for this color)

I really splurged on Tess' but her yarn has held up better than any other socks I've made, so I think it's worth the splurge. The only thing I wish I had gotten was a mega-hank of handdyed laceweight, but nothing really grabbed me. I've been working on a round shawl pattern (I'll blog about it soon) and I think I'll need over 2,000 yards. I want something with a little color change because I've noticed it makes the knitting a lot less monotonous for me. Any suggestions?

* Go visit Christy to hear more of our thoughts (she put it much better than I could have) and a ridiculous picture of me next to the world's largest hank of yarn. Just keep in mind that I'm 5'2"

My anticipation for MDSW multiplies each year. You know the feeling you got as a kid the night before vacation? Yeah...that's what I've felt all week. Christy and I must have sent 20 emails to each other 20 emails since Monday.

I put together a list last year of tips and advice if you haven't gone (although that seems to be fewer and fewer each year!). Here's last year's list, with a few additions.

1. Prepare by writing down the kinds of projects you have in mind, yardage and gauge needed. Or, if you've been on the lookout for any particular type of fiber, write it down too. Last year I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't keep things straight.
2. Arrive early. It gets really crowded and if there's something special you're looking out for, so are a ton of other people. Plus, the festival gives out a freebie each year to the first people who arrive.
3. Bring something to carry your purchases in. I'm partial to a backpack, but whatever type of bag(s) you like is fine. The parking area isn't _that_ close so you won't want to be running back and forth unless it's really necessary
4. Wear comfortable, sturdy shoes. It's a true fairgrounds. There are lots of bumpy areas and flimsy flip flops won't cut it.
5. Pack water. The food area is at one end of the fairgrounds, plus, do you really want to waste yarn money on $3 bottles of water?
6. Carry a small notebook. If you're not sure you want to buy that really cool hand dyed mohair at the first booth you walk by, write it down so you can come back if you don't see anything you like better. I saw a few things but couldn't remember where they were by the time we finished walking through
7. Visit booths of interest first. I'll be making a B line to my favorite hand dyer as soon as we hit the fairgrounds, before the booth can get picked over and messy
8. Be prepared for lots of lamb on the menu. We were all taken aback by the huge lamb chop on a billboard in the parking lot.
9. Bring something small to knit on. It's spring in the mid-Atlantic -- in other words, gorgeous! Lots of people sit out on the grassy areas and take breaks knitting on socks and other small items. I won't be caught without my knitting again.
10. Medicate - It's spring in the mid-Atlantic. Pollen will be rampant.
11. Food: You'll find the typical fair type food -- hotdogs, hamburgers, sausage sandwiches, fries, etc. I don't recall much healthy food so pack something if you're looking for a healthy meal.