May 2007 Archives

Good things come in threes

Have you seen the new sock patterns that have come out in the past few days? Cassie's Loksins, Pamela's Marigolds and soon-to-be-released Kate's Marina Piccola.

I love them all, and not just because...

Bad things come in threes as well

The lace I posted about the other day? I hate it. It's all wrong, and the more I look at it and get away from it, the more I hate it.

Thank you thank you thank you all for posting your true feelings about it. Funny thing is, I didn't set out to do hearts. They evolved into that and I went with it. Bad idea. It's very dense and not at all the look I had in my mind. I'm going back to the drawing board on this one. At least one thing is for sure -- it's renewed my love of Zephyr, and that's a good thing since I have enough for at least three shawls.

The three thing? Well, I swatched and knitted and experimented for three solid days on this thing. It was hard to admit that nothing productive was going to come from all that work. But, when I posted and asked for your thoughts I started to accept that I didn't like what I did. Your comments confirmed my thoughts.

I'm not bitter (not much, anyway) but I'm a little spent on the lace swatching. Even knitting with Zephyr isn't doing it for me.

Excuse me while I cast on for a new pair of socks.

I've wanted to make a rectangular lace wrap for a while now. Last winter I really needed one for a holiday party but I decided too late. This year, I want one (or a few) so I won't get stuck in the same predicament.

I swatched all weekend and finally came up with what you see above. I love the zig zag bottom border, but I'm undecided about the hearts. I think they're a little dense and maybe lack interest? I'm considering making some of the stitches move outward in the heart, or maybe some extra eyelets inside it to make it more airy.

The inner part (which will be most of the wrap) will be lacier. I might knit a couple repeats before I decide.

What do you think? Don't hold back -- I want real opinions. You all know how much time it takes to knit something like this -- so tell me what you really think.

I had to do it. The yarn looked so bad that I just couldn't wait any longer to wash what I had knitted.

It did even out just like I had hoped. The increases formed small holes before washing, but they're all filled out now that they've been washed. Phew!

I'm excited to continue on now, knowing that it's going to look good when I'm done.

BTW, I've started DVRing Knitty Gritty. It's a little hoaky but there's some good content in there too. A recent episode with Lily Chin was better than I had expected. She shared a bunch of easy little tricks to help both new and experienced knitters.

My favorite? To keep track of which needle you used to knit a swatch, knit the needle size into the swatch by knitting in as many eyelets as the needle size (US 5 needle, 5 eyelets in the first row). There are several other good tips too -- like the one on how to deal with running out of yarn when doing a long tail cast on, and how to simply (and without math) determine how to space buttonholes evenly. Check it out if you have a few moments.

I've been knitting on the intermittently all week. Now that I've got a rhythm going I can (mostly) knit by touch. The linen can occasionally get splitty, but it's not too bad.

The hardness of the yarn makes for a very uneven knit, but I'm hopeful that it will behave like the swatch and look all nice and even after it's washed and dried (she says with just a hint of concern).

As for mods (you know I had to, right?) I'm knitting this top-down. I want to be able to try it on periodically, and I'd like to stick to the yarn I have so this will be the best way for me to do that.

Joan McGowan-Michael's Knitting Lingerie Style came out several weeks ago but I haven't seen much talk about it.

It's really a nice book. The photography is lovely, and the variety of patterns was surprising to me. It's not just about knitting bras, panties and corsets. While those things are in there, there's also tops, skirts, stockings and socks, armwarmers and leggings.

Here are my favorites.

Joan has personalized the narrative with bits of information about herself -- something I really enjoyed. In her intro to the square neck top she explains how her mother found it hard to let sixth-grader Joan wear bras, and bought her a camisette instead. So, Joan saved up her own pennies and went down to the five-and-dime to buy some herself.

Joan also shares some history about the evolution of lingerie -- why things were designed a certain way, and how they were originally used. While it's not necessary for creating the garments, I enjoyed learning something new.

Like Joan's White Lies Designs, she put a lot of effort into these patterns. Many of them come in a wide variety of sizes. While some of the bras and closely fitted tops run as small as 26 - 36-1/2, many of the designs go up to 50 and higher. She includes technical information like how to install underwire and boning, and how to put together adjustable bra straps.

I'm very happy to have this book. Joan incorporates a lot of nice fitting and design details, takes the time to write for a large variety of sizes, and shares technical information that's not readily available. At a time when the plethora of knitting books seem to run the gamut of quality, I really appreciate the effort put into this one.

I didn't expect to pick a handpainted yarn but the color just drew me in. It's Claudia's Handpainted Linen in plumicious.

I'm hopeful that the coloring will blend and look like it's swathed with color, but we all know it's a big guessing game for now. And that's par for the course for my first knitted skirt.

After my last experience knitting with linen I decided to go the more traditional route and knit with the yarn as is and wash and dry it after it's knitted up. The swatch I'm going with starts out as 6 spi before washing and after comes out right at about 5.25 spi (exactly what the pattern specified) after it's been washed and dried and stretched out a little bit (using 3.5 mm / US 4 needles). I'm trying to mimic the way the skirt will behave when worn. If I'm right I'll get a skirt that fits nicely and doesn't look baggy and saggy after being worn. If I'm wrong, well, let's just say I won't be taking any pictures if I'm wrong (but I'll be sure to post about it).

I can't wait to see how this looks once several inches are knit up. I'm sure I'll do a test wash similar to Swiss Dot just to make sure everything behaves as expected. I hate that feeling I get when I'm knitting and I'm concerned that it's not going to do what I predicted. Plus, once it's washed I can try it on for real and see what it looks like.

First off, a big thank you to everyone who commented on my garden! I can't tell you how exciting and motivational it was to get all those comments. I saw all the things I still hadn't done -- and you all showed me all the things I *had* done. Thank you!

So, today is the last day of my vaca. It's been a long week. I'll return to work satisfied with the progress I made in the garden, and well-rested (I "slept in" until almost 7am every day this week -- that's late for me). This morning I woke up to birds chirping so loudly that at first I thought I left the TV on -- it felt like they were right in the bedroom.

I didn't get to make my barbecue or the sangria on Friday, but you can bet I'll be doing it today. It's supposed to be sunny with a high of 70°F (21°C). I couldn't have created a nicer day for my last day of vaca.

It's been a while since I've talked about this design. I've knitted on it quite a bit since I showed you the last pics.

The fit is really good (I'll show you once it gets a little longer) and I love how the stitch pattern waves a bit.

I changed the original stitch pattern I chose for the bottom half. It just wasn't working for me -- it felt a little matronly. I decided it needed something with straight lines rather than waves. Here's a closeup.

I washed and dried the swatch I knitted it to get final measurements. The angora fluffed up a lot and it shrunk a bit in length. Curiosity got the best of me last night and I had to see what happened with the top. It did just what I expected (phew!) and shrunk about 2.5 inches. The softness is incredible -- even softer and squishier than the small swatch.

I want the top to be a little more feminine than it is now, so I'm considering a short, flaired sleeve for a little frill, and maybe a tiny ruffle around the bottom and the neckline.

Alright, that's enough for one week!

I did five full days, and my mom even came over for two if those days. And would you believe it -- I didn't get as much done as I thought I would get done in two or three days?

I did get a lot done though. The weeding is almost totally done -- which I've learned the hard way needs to be done early if it's going to be manageable.

Some of the highlights:

a finished vegetable garden

the herb garden

the parterre garden

You can view the full set on flickr.

After five days of garden work, I'm looking forward to three days of knitting. I'll be taking a walk down to my LYS to check out some Euroflax Linen for Kat Coyle's skirt from Knit Cafe that Lolly pointed out. I have the same concerns that many of you have about knitted skirts but I think I need to try one myself. I love to wear airy skirts to work or out on the weekend and I love the flouncy bottom on this one.

And after I get back from the LYS I'll be making up a batch of my favorite sangria recipe (I use a little less spiced rum and pineapple orange banana juice instead), and putting a barbecue brisket on the grill (it should make the neighbors hungry too!).

Now this is what a vacation is supposed to be about.

That's what I have left to do to finish the garden. I've worked 4 straight days, and I've promised myself to do whatever I want (knitknitknit) on Friday through Sunday (minus a little time out with Mom and the family for Mother's Day this weekend).

There's no chance I'll get all of this done today (and to think that when I started I estimated 2 days' worth of work). Some items are more critical than others (things that deter weeds need to be done soon or I'll have a mess in a few weeks). All week long I've kept myself motivated by thinking about how awesome it will feel to sit in the yard and knit for 3 days (and maybe take a walk down to my LYS, which is now 4 blocks away!).

Wish me luck, and I'll be back tomorrow with (hopefully) some pretty garden pics.

Another year came and went! It's interesting to see how my perspective on the festival changes over the years.

My first year, all I bought were 2 balls of Regia sock yarn. The two years after that were big splurge years. And then this year was more deliberate and subdued. Both made for a much smaller haul.

I only made 2 yarn purchases.

The first is several hanks of superwash lace merino from Tess. I don't have an immediate plan to cast on with this, but it's definitely an in-person buy. I must have spent a half hour at the booth selecting colors and choosing between dyelots until I got just the look I wanted. Most of the hanks are somewhat solid but a few have 2 similar colors (like the gold/orange one on the end). I can't wait to see this knit up.

My final yarn purchase was 2 balls of Regia bamboo. I fell in love with Maud's socks in this yarn and have been looking for it ever since. Carodan Farm had it and I scooped it up right away.

I like this yarn because it has some color variation to it but it should look good in a variety of stitch patterns. That was my goal this year -- no yarn I can't make stitch patterned socks with -- and I stuck to it.

I did get a few other things though.

I got these fun felted slippers from The Textile Museum. I've worn them every day since the festival and they're great -- comfy, warm, and the rubber bottom ensures I don't slide around.

And finally, a la Claudia, a Moving Mud shawl pin that I plan to make into a pendant.

The best part of this year was by far the company and the people.

I got to see Kristy's new sweater in person (it looks great!).

I finally met Ann, Ann, Stacey, blogless Patty (hi Patty!) as well as a few lurkers (lurkers, where are you? please say hello more often!).

I also ran into EyeKnit in the Socks that Rock line (I was just keeping Christy company, I swear!), and Liz spotted us sitting outside the main barn just before she caught the Rosie's Bus back to Philly. I saw Jessica busy buying yarn and hauling a wheel (she swears it's not hers).

I'm sure I've missed a few people too.

I had a great time and I stuck with my goal of not buying much yarn. The things I got were either already on my list or unique enough to make it worth the purchase. I'll be adding these 2 purchases to the sidebar so I can track them with my goals for Rhinebeck as well.

Speaking of goals, I took the week off work and I'm working on another goal. Can you guess which one?

Did I get your attention? Good!

While many of us are on a high with MDSW coming up this weekend, I thought I'd let you in on how you can help a great cause and get yourself in the running for some great yarn too.

Seriously great yarn -- Tess and Socks That Rock. If you can't make it to MDSW this weekend then this is your chance!

I mention Christy in a lot of my friends-related blog posts. She's a great knitter, an even greater friend, and her partner -- Michelle -- was diagnosed with RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) four years ago (in her late 20s).

They're an incredibly wonderful couple and have dealt with all the ups and downs this disease has thrown their way. Even though I know it's been really hard on Michelle, she always has a positive attitude and does everything she can to lead a normal life. It took several years before they found a medication that worked for her. I know it's been a difficult and scary time for both of them.

Go read their story and see how it's impacted them. And if you can (freeyarnfreeyarnfreeyarn) go on over and donate to Christy's Arthiritis Foundation Walk.

They're two really special women and I'd love it if you could support them and this very worthy cause.

Thanks for listening! And if you're going to MDSW, have a great time. If this is your first time, here are a few tips I wrote up last year for what to expect and how to prepare.