Ode to Handspun

September 29th, 2006

OK, so maybe my handspun yarn isn’t quite good enough yet for a dedicatory ode. However, I’m finding it much more interesting than some of the knitting updates that I’ve been avoiding on this blog lately (ahem…chevron scarf).

I’ve done a little dyeing lately on my handspun that’s just been sitting in my knitting stuffs basket. For the longest time I couldn’t decide what to do with it, and when I did decide I couldn’t motivate myself to be excited enough to knit it. I finally realized that perhaps dyeing it a more interesting color would make things more interesting.

I don’t know what I think about the color. I can’t get over it even though it’s a perfectly good color, and suits my color tastes exactly. I think perhaps I’m feeling disappointed because it isn’t exactly what I expected from it. I wanted a warmer color, and less green. I used a gold dye (the same I used for the kri-kerchief yarn) and the results are totally different. I’m trying to decide if I should just get over the color, or do another dye session with a wee tiny bit of red to make it more brown.

The colors in the next project are certainly nothing to complain about. Just about every vibrant shade of green one could want for is in this beautifully dyed ball of roving I recently bought. Since I now realize that I actually have spending money, I impulsively decided to start on my next spinning project. Thank you Maine Woods Yarn.

I must admitt I was rather discouraged when I started spinning this stuff. It was so much more difficult than it was last time, what with all the unevenness and pulling apart. I was worried that the small amount of skill I had developed vanished in the months that I haven’t been spinning. Fortunately for me, after a little break I was able to work up some spinning mojo and begin to produce relatively satisfactory yarn.

I think that I was a little tense when I first started with this roving. The hand holding the yarn was holding a bit too tight, and I was going too fast. Once I slowed down the process a bit and held things a bit more loosely, it was smooth sailing (mostly!). I can’t wait to decide what to knit out of this!

To Ply or Not to Ply? Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. One of the reasons I was avoiding knitting my first handspun is because it was so terribly uneven. I made it uneven on purpose in some places to get a feel for different thicknesses, but that made it difficult to want to use. I had a great idea a few nights ago to ply the two ends together, since the start end was a bit thinner than the finish end. I’m much happier with it now, as the thinnest parts aren’t nearly so thin.

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Serendipity

September 26th, 2006

I started a new project recently, after seeing a co-worker wear a pink head scarf on her head. Forget the pink; it was the scarf that I really liked. I decided that I was going to knit my own in a wonderful green. I’ll make this part of the story short: I knit and ripped this thing out about ten times, only to rip it out one last time. I wanted something lacy, and wasn’t getting it.

Deciding to be patient I waited until I went home to check out the summer 2006 issue of Interweave Knits that I have. I remembered there being something about lace in there. Looking through the magazine reminded me of the staff project of a headband that I really liked. I went to Interweave Knits subscriber section, downloaded the bit about the staff projects, and printed it. I planned to do something similar, but looking more like a headband than a scarf.

I already bought some yarn for this project, so I needed to make sure that what I had would suit this pattern. I look down where it says “Yarn:” and immediately after that colon was the exact brand and type of yarn that I had bought for this project already. What made it even cooler? I had been using the exact needles the pattern called for in the pieces I’d already ripped out a million times: size 6 DPNs.

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Working With Your Own Design

September 13th, 2006

I’m completed with the knitting part of my pouch/purse, and I’m excited to get the other parts finished. I’m pretty happy with what I have on the front, although unfortunately you can’t really see it in detail. My camera doesn’t take really close up knitting well. You can imagine celtic braiding on each side, and in the middle two lines twining around eachother in large loops. Now I need to block it so the flap is the same size and shape of the actual purse.

I must say that I was a little disappointed in this yarn. I love the color, the texture,and the softness. However, the yarn broke at least two times while I was knitting the more complicated front. This is not good!

The front panele involved a lot of twisted stitches, dropping stitches off the needle, and other such things. While it was pretty complicated to figure out what the hell I was doing at first, after a while I understood the mechanics and was able to do some pieces without reading the pattern. I’m glad I did this, because I learned a lot.

Ahhh, and you may be asking yourself what the red fabric is for. That’s leftover silk (I forget what kind) from my wedding belt. I want to line it with that, because I love the fabric and the color with that yarn. I think it will look great.

I decided to do a moss stitch before the bind-off on the inside of the purse so that the edges wouldn’t curl over. I really like how it gives a finished look. I used moss stitch to end the flap too, but that isn’t quite as visible even in person.

So far I’m happy with this! I’m excited to finish it soon.

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The Purse/Pouch

September 8th, 2006

I started a new project, forgetting all about the in progress projects I have going. When I’ve got an idea, I just need to go with it! I’ve got some Cash Iroha that I wanted to create a purse/pouch out of. This idea has been stewing in my mind for a few weeks, and I decided that yesterday was the day to start.

So, I thought it would be kind of cool to have a pouch that I could wear around my hips when I’m wearing a skirt. Sometimes when you dress nice, you don’t want a purse hanging over your nice shirt, and I don’t like those small handled purses that I actually have to hold onto. I thought that it would be even cooler if you could also decide to wear this pouch as a purse over your shoulder as well. I think I know how I’m going to do it with an adjustable strap of sorts.

It’s really a simple purse/pouch. I did a figure eight sort of cast-on with my circulars, and continued knitting in the round. I’m just fascinated how that closed bottom turned out, and I didn’t even have to do any grafting!! It’s going to close with a simple flap the size of the pouch, and I think I’m going to do a leafy design on the flap for decoration.

So far I’m quite happy with it, and the yarn is just perfect for this. I love how it’s slightly uneven, and with the green it lends a very organic quality to it. Here’s hoping for a new purse in my future!

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What to Blog

September 7th, 2006

I find myself not posting very often due to a lack of pictures. I get lazy sometimes, and don’t want to fiddle with setting up a nice place to take pictures of my latest work. Plus, seeing progressive pictures of just a few more rows of the recent pieces is kind of boring, and they don’t change all that much over a few rows.

What I really should do is just take pictures whenever I have a spare moment, not worrying about whether or not they’ll turn out right, or if I’ll use them in the blog. Then I have some ready to go if/when I decide to post.

I also find progress pictures really boring because talking about my progress is really boring. The only time it’s interesting is when I learn some new technique, am struggling with a particular piece, or am finally seeing what a piece really looks like. I think this is one thing I don’t enjoy in other knitting blogs as well. Reading someone write about the latest progress on a simple sock, when they’ve probably knit 50+ socks before is uninteresting.

What I find interesting in a knitting blog, or writing on knitting, is an interesting take on things. This could just be an amusing way of writing about what would be ordinary knitting, for example something that I might find at The Yarn Harlot. Everyone links to her, but for goodness sake she’s an entertaining writer. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention another entertaining knit blogger, Rachel at Lickety Knit.

Ok, so I didn’t intend for this to be a post linking to my favorite knitting blogs, but let’s just roll with it.

I also enjoy blog writers who write about their learning experiences, where I can watch the processes of (usually) an experienced knitter, like I can find at Pie Knits. It’s very inspiring to read about the design process she goes through, and I really enjoy some of the pieces she makes.

These are the blogs that I really look forward to reading. I have many others in my RSS feed reader, and I enjoy reading them and oggling the pictures. However, some of the time I find picture oggling more enjoyable than reading the whole post. Sometimes it’s good to be short and to the point (I never said I was taking my own advice).

With that in mind, the common theme in all the knitting blogs I read are the pictures. I really enjoy the pictures. Back to the pictures. So Kri, just face it, you’re going to have to start taking more pictures if you’re going to blog more. I think I also need to focus on what I find interesting in other blogs, when writing for my own blog. New ideas, learning techniques, the design process, an interesting point of view or take on things, and pictures.

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Alterations to Kri-Kerchief

September 3rd, 2006

Kara, a fellow crafter and LibriVox friend has finished her own kri-kerchief, and told me that she made a few alterations. Instead of plain stockinette on the band around the head, she did a ribbing. Honestly, I intended to do a ribbing but forgot, and it turned out good anyway! She also smoothed out the decreasing so that the sides “don’t look like stairs” as loosely quoted from her. It looks great, but this may mean I need to make some adjustments to the pattern.

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Shawl, DONE

September 1st, 2006

Now, do I give it to Mom or not? I really don’t know if it’s something she’ll wear, and I can’t just ask her. That doesn’t work! I’ve considered giving it to Grammy too, because I’m sure she has trouble keeping herself as warm as she used to. I’m also considering keeping it because….even with its beginner mistakes….I love it.

The knit/purl basket weave that I did for a border created a little scalloping around the edges, which it turns out that I love. I decided to help them take their shape by pinning them into those curves while it blocks. It’s a really nice detail.

I really need blocking wires to block straight edges.

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