Archive for January, 2008
January 29th, 2008
Over at the Spindlers group in Ravelry a few weeks ago we did a handmade spindle exchange. I forgot to take a picture of the one I sent, but today I finally got a picture of the one I received. It’s a donut bead, that I’m assuming is glass, with some very pretty sparkly colors. I love the shaft and how it tapers, and the only unfortunate thing about it is the lack of notch for this top whorl is a bit difficult. What I love about it is that I can comfortably thigh spin it for a nice highly twisted fine single. I can’t easily do that on any of my others.
I’ve been spinning up some wool that [Emily](http://aemmeleia.wordpress.com/) my sender put in the package, which reminds me I should ask her what type it is! At least, I’m assuming it’s wool by the way it feels. I’m trying to make myself wait until I spin up a lot of it so I can ply one big bunch together. I’ll split splice the multiple spindle-fulls before winding each new one on. It’ll be hard to hold myself back, because I think this will look great once plied and soaked.
2 Comments | Categories: Spinning |
January 28th, 2008
Quote Beth..
“So how did it come out?! 
”
I am incredibly happy with this sweater, despite its slight unfortunate bits. I lengthened it by a few inches, which is almost a required for large chested women. Short shirts make my top look even wider, and many people designing clothing don’t take into consideration when designing for the larger chest that our shirts tend to lift up. The sleeves are just barely the right length, and I wouldn’t object to them being a half inch longer. The cables came out beautifully, the buttons were per-fect, the fit is amazing, and overall it’s a beautiful sweater if I do say so myself. When I was deciding which size to go with, I had a bust measure of around 40″, and debated with myself about whether or not I should go with the 38″ or the larger. The larger size would have definitely been too big for me because I like a nice fitted look.
There are *only* two things that I could complain about, and one of them could be considered more of a quirk than a problem. This sweater is knit flat from the bottom up to the underarm. Then you knit the sleeves, and attach the sleeves to the body before knitting up the yoke and shoulder decreases. Somehow when I attached the sleeves, one of them ended up turned a quarter of the way around so the seam is more on the side of my arm than underneath. It doesn’t really affect the fit, and it’s not easy to spot so that’s why I call it more a quirk.
The other issue with the sweater is more of a problem, on the other hand. Although you could call this a problem with button down shirts for large chested women in general. I am referring to The Gap, which occurs between two buttons right across the bust. Unless you’re wearing something a size or two bigger than you, you’ll get this gap. I spent roughly 10 hours Sunday night trying to prevent The Gap in my sweater by sewing on a ribbon to the button band. I’d gotten this idea from looking at several Ravelers’ sweaters, and was fortunate enough to find a ribbon exactly the right width and a good color match too. Ten hours I spent, and it’s all gone to shit. Pardon my language, but I think you can understand my irritation, especially if you’ve experienced The Gap yourself. Safety pins to the rescue!
6 Comments | Categories: Knitting |
January 24th, 2008
*Ignore the mess…*
The wait is **agony**! I have been savoring the finishing bits of this sweater. My experience with this project has been like no other. I am incredibly excited to get this finished, yet I took my time to plan and do things properly. Normally when I’m excited to finish a project I go faster, take shortcuts, work on it every waking moment possible. For the past several days as I worked on this sweater I carefully consulted the pattern. I made sure I had the right needles and materials. I measured the button band and researched how many stitches I should pick up to adjust for a longer body. I even counted the number of stitches between each buttonhole so it would be *exact*.
The knitting’s done and the ends are woven in, and I am just going crazy with wanting to try it on. I tried it on before washing, but who knows what will have changed as it hit the hot tap water. Nevermind that I measured out the thing as I was laying it out to block (and the measurements are *per-fect*!). All the horror stories I’ve read of sweaters gone wrong, despite the most meticulous planning and swatching have made me wary. I will only be satisfied when it has dried and I put it on.
Ohh and I got the most fitting buttons too! Wait ’till I sew them on.
5 Comments | Categories: Knitting |
January 19th, 2008
I tried really hard to get a photo that does justice to the beauty of these cables. They almost look sculpted. Since I don’t have a great camera (it needs a ton of light for any good detail) and I’m not familiar with using the proper flash so I could preserve the shadows, I had to doctor the photo up quite a bit before it looked quite right.
I spent a lot of time last night, and all of this morning working up to where I am now. I just need to do the neck shaping and knit the button band and neck band. I have a feeling if I really tried hard I could finish this weekend. So far I’m pretty confident about the fit as I’ve been able to try it on too!
2 Comments | Categories: Knitting |
January 17th, 2008
The not so great first, on to the really awesome…
This yarn is for the Spindlers group challenge on Ravelry fitting the theme of “Indulge yourself” for January. I received some cash for Christmas, and decided that I would only spend a little on fun stuff. We’re a little tighter than normal on money lately so I didn’t feel right spending it all. That’s how I got the Butterfly Girl Designs spindles, and that’s my interpretation of “Indulge yourself”. The only indulgent part of spinning this yarn was **me** putting up with **it**. The silk shed everywhere and the alpaca was a pain in the rear to draft. I’m not even sure it was worth it because I’m a bit luke warm about the end product. My intention was to spin a thick single and a thin, and ply them together. I think it would have looked more like my vision if the thicker alpaca was even more thick. It reminds me a lot of hay, and not in a good way. Perhaps it will grow on me, and perhaps knitted up I will love it. We’ll see, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
This (not so finished) object, however, I am much pleased with. It’s fitting very snugly, and I can’t wait to finish the toe. I’m even excited to start the second sock, despite the slightly fiddly part at the top of the cuff. My husband keeps asking me if I’m “sure you’ll be able to remember your modifications?” Pshaw, he has no faith. I didn’t write them down, but they were simple and intuitive based on the pattern and my gauge. Plus, I’m not averse to counting stitches and rows several times. I do that with normal socks most of the time because I’m a bit silly about wanting the same number of stitches and rows. I can’t wait to wear these!
Lastly and most importantly, I’ve started the cables on my Tangled Yoke! Every spare moment I’ve had at home starting at last night until now I’ve been working on this. It doesn’t look like much yet, but give me a break. The rows are long! I find that I’m enjoying the cables so much, and am admiring my progress so much as I go that I don’t even notice the long rows. It’s so satisfying seeing my progress turn into 3D looking cables, that I’m trying to convince myself to make more cabled knits. I can’t wait to see what it will all look like when it’s done, and I’m sure my husband will be glad for it to be over so he can stop being asked to take a look every five stitches (OK, I exaggerate…mostly).
There’s only one downside to this part of the sweater, and that is the potential for bunching. Since the cable set-up row has a 1-to-5 increase it wants to bunch a bit. That’s mostly accounted for in the cable crosses, and on a lot of finished sweaters I’ve seen it’s barely noticeable when worn.
I just wish my circular cable was long enough so I could try what I’ve got on so far!
3 Comments | Categories: Knitting, Spinning |
January 14th, 2008
A few weeks ago I bought a pair of spindles from [Butterfly Girl Designs](http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5207884) on [Etsy](http://www.etsy.com). They came in very quickly, and I immediately started both of them each with some fiber. One of the spindles is about .7 oz, and on that one I started to spin some laceweight silk. That I will be plying with the fingering weight brown alpaca spun on the other spindle which is about 1.2 oz. One of the coolest things about these spindles is that I can use them as either top or bottom whorl. Cool!
These spindles are beautiful and simple, but I had a slight problem while spinning them. The hooks were a bit wide so that the yarn didn’t come out the top in line with the shaft. Any hint of a wobble was made worse by the hook and took any spin out of the spindle. It wasn’t a terrible spinning experience, but I knew they could be better so I sent a message on Ravelry to the seller to give her some suggestions for future improvements. Not only did she very quickly (after a quick request for ideas on the Spindlers group) work up a new style of hook to use, but she sent a set of each for me to try.
First of all I want it to be clear that no one has paid or solicited me to write this. With that out of the way, I highly recommend Butterfly Girl Designs as a place to get beautiful fairly priced spindles, and great service. I will definitely consider buying more in the future (if I ever have money again!).
The fiber I’m using on the other hand….has been very difficult and both are really flyaway. I can’t really say too much because these were Christmas gifts from my mom which is awesome. I think that when I ply them and am done with the yarn I’m spinning I’ll be much happier with them. I think the two will make a great combination, and this will be my first experience with plying a thick and thin together.
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January 13th, 2008
I’ve been wanting to knit a sock from one of the patterns in my two Nancy Bush books (Knitting on the Road, and Knitting Vintage Socks), so on a whim last night I brought out a recent WEBs acquisition to start it. I’m using Shibui’s sock yarn which means my gauge is quite a bit different. The gauge called for is 7 sts/in and I’m getting 9.75 sts/in. Since the pattern is made for an 8″ circumfirence foot and I’ve got 7.5, I thought that would be fine to knit with the new gauge to get a slightly smaller sock. The one problem is that I didn’t account for the calf shaping.
So what I’ve got is a short sock which is really my preference anyways. I find knitting tall cuffs tedious, and prefer to wear ankle or short cuffed socks.
This is an incredibly simple pattern with the most complicated bit at the top. That .5″ bit is a 1×1 rib, with a chain stitch on the top and bottom of it. The chain stitch was the hardest part, requiring me to purl with the normal end of the yarn and knit with the other. At first it was a pain to try to hold both yarns at once (and would have been tedious to have to pick each up every other stitch) but with some practice and some particular maneuvering I had the trick to it down. From then on it’s a stockinette sock with two panels of a knit/purl stitch pattern. The pattern uses a basic heel flap with heel stitch that I use all the time. This is exactly the type of sock “pattern” I want to follow. Simple to knit with a clever arrangement of various stitch patterns. Nancy Bush rocks.
4 Comments | Categories: Knitting |
January 9th, 2008
So maybe nearly done is a bit of an overstatement, but I’m getting there. I’m probably 2/3 to 3/4 done as I start the yoke. The sleeves are done and attached, and I’m not too far away from the cables. I must admit I’m a little nervous about starting the cables for some reason. I’ve done cables pretty confidently before, but never on a sweater, and never in a place where tension and fit are important.
I can’t believe that at the end of this I’ll have a completed sweater that fits me…I hope. I really should try it on with both sleeves before I start the cables, but the attempts at trying it on so far have been successful!
In non-knitting crafts: I went to the craft store a few days ago and bought some 16 gauge wire to make shawl pins. This stuff is awesome, however a bit fiddly. Some of it is coated to be a particular color, and one color I got is just the natural color of the wire. I learned that the needle-nose pliers I have probably aren’t the best because they have grips that scratch the wire. Scratched wire makes snags in your knits, which is definitely not a good thing. With a little duct tape I was able to fix things up and make some nice pins. I kind of like them, and have a bunch of wire to make some more (not that I need more than this really!).
1 Comment | Categories: Knitting |
January 6th, 2008
This is the year where I have definitively decided that I do not celebrate New Years (day or eve). There has never been any intrinsic meaning for me, and I’m not really the partying type. Call me cynical (and you’d be right to do so) but I don’t find much meaning in our so called “resolutions” that we all try to focus on when the new year rolls around. I’m sure there are those of you that really find value in having resolutions to better yourself to start the new year, and you may even stick to them. However, it seems to me the vast majority of people don’t.
I guess part of my problem with these resolutions is that I don’t need reflections on the previous year, and the start of a new year, to prompt me to think about how I could be better. I’m always trying to learn new knitting techniques, improve my finishing, spin a better yarn, share what I’m doing with others, etc. I don’t always succeed, but I try if that’s worth anything. I much prefer [Brenda Dayne's](http://cast-on.com/) take on this to “start as you mean to go on”. We should be taking those steps towards self improvement, not just saying we will.
With that in mind, today I will be doing some serious thinking about an article I’ve been wanting to write. I don’t know where this article will be published (my blog, [Knitty](http://www.knitty.com), Spin Off??) or if anyone but me will publish it, but it has become a very interesting topic for me. I’ve always been interested in the learning process, and helping others learn new things. One of the coolest things about the Spindlers group on Ravelry is that it is the perfect place for beginners. A focus on spindles, and sometimes that’s all beginners can afford. I know I want this article to focus on self-taught spinners, especially the ones that don’t feel comfortable teaching themselves. A lot of new spinners need encouragement, a reminder that the just need to have faith that they’ll get it, and urges to just relax.
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January 5th, 2008
Finally I’m back in the swing of things. I no longer feel quite so apathetic about my knitting; I’m actually excited about something. **Mittens!** These mittens are great, this yarn is great, the colors are great, nearly everything is great (so far).
While knitting these mittens I have this incessant urge to try them on after every few rows. The yarn is Frog Tree Yarns merino worsted, and this stuff is right up there with Malabrigo in softness and luxuriousness. I can’t help but touch it and hold the unfinished mitten in my hand. It’s really quite silly, because I really could be using that time to knit it! Since I’m using size US 3 needles with a worsted yarn I’m getting quite a dense and not so stretchy fabric, which is perfect for mittens. As I keep trying them on I am repeatedly reminded of the concept of ease in knitting.
If you’re not familiar with ease, it’s basically how much of a negative or positive you adjust your measurements with. If you want a form fitting item, you’ll put negative ease. If you want it loose, you’ll do the opposite. I have a tendency to ignore ease altogether and cast-on to nearly the exact measurements I need, with adjustments for the stitch count having a multiple of whatever I need (4 for 2×2 ribbing, 2 for 1×1, etc). Generally the fabric I tend to knit up is fairly stretchy, and the ease is very flexible. Since the fabric created in these mittens is fairly dense, there isn’t a whole lot of stretching which necessitates a more careful thought to ease. Any negative ease might make them too tight. Fortunately for me, I like snug mittens so having no ease at all has worked in this case. However, these mittens are a lesson in paying attention to ease because they could have easily been too tight, and would be so if they were even a couple of stitches smaller in circumfirence.
If I’m going to be knitting more sweaters (nope I haven’t neglected the Tangled Yoke, stay tuned) I need to pay more attention to ease. Forgetting might lead to a sweater that’s way too big and running out of yarn, or I might barely be able to fit my somewhat large bust into a small space. Also, tight sleeves? Not so fun.
OK, enough trying to be smart. Look at those colors, just imagine its softness. I have fallen completely in love with this color combination and the sharp contrast between the two colors. Green is my absolute favorite color, and green & red together is my most favorite combination of colors. The individual yarns look very soft and lightly twisted, but when you tug on them they have a feeling of a sturdy held together yarn. It does not shed or fall apart in my hands.
One thing I find incredibly exciting about knitting is the ability to create my garments exactly how I prefer them. If I have the patience to do the math, re-knit bits I don’t get quite right, and think about how I want it just right, I’ll end up with something exactly suited to me. In this case a closely fitted mitten with a long cuff and a literal ton of softness.
3 Comments | Categories: Knitting |
Entry: Quietly Knitting
Author: Hishandmaid
Time: February 27, 2010, 10:57 am
Comment: Very adorable!
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