Shades of grey

This past weekend, after a few months of hiding it in the closet, I picked back up my Sunshine Cardi and finished the work on the body.  Half-way through the bind-off, however, I remembered that I've been wanting to knit a Ribbed Lace Bolero for some time now, and I decided to cast on for that instead.  So I did.  (The Sunshine Cardi will just have to wait.  These things happen.)  As you may (or may not) remember, I was working on the Estelle cardi a while back, and finally finished it...only to discover (after blocking, buttons, etc.) that...it just was not flattering on me.  Something about the fit was off.  Very sad.

 
 

At the time, I couldn't bear the idea of ripping it out with the hours of work still fresh in my mind, but now, with a few month cushion, it doesn't feel like so much of a problem.  I picked out the end at the cast-off edge, and I am knitting my bolero straight off of the unraveling sweater.  A little bit disturbing, a lot-a-bit fun.

Yesterday, I made another circle skirt (this is #4).  This time, I did a double layer: two shades of lightweight sheer gray -- the darker is a tiny swiss dot, and the lighter is a dove gray with a slight sheen.  I've never liked gray, but I quite suddenly can't get enough of gray/bright color combinations.

For this project I did a mini-turned-hem on the overskirt, but the underskirt is simply serged, and I like the contrast of finished/unfinished.


 
Style notes: Headband was a free gift from Modcloth (thank you Modcloth!), Baby blue studded leather jacket by Wilson Leather (normally our family doesn't support "mall leather", but this was a clearance purchase that I made as a starving student back in 2000), Pink shirt from Old Navy, hot pink leggings from Target, ankle booties Steve Madden Hondd.


There's just something about the circle skirt that has me completely enamored.

 


Easy to wear, and most importantly....

 


Infinitely swishy.

 

I've just finished another one today, but I plan on making a stiff petti-skirt to wear under and give it the look of a poodle skirt, so I'm going to finish that up before I show it to you.  I just can't get skirts out of my mind; I know that it's still cold outside, but here in Texas, the fact that it's January means that summer is just around the corner -- and I'm going to have a whole new wardrobe of floaty skirts to greet the season with.

The beginning of the Baby Shower project, and Rosebud!

So.  I decided that (regarding the Baby Shower project), for a child born in a cold season, hats and mittens would probably be most appreciated and worn.  (Especially the child of a non-knitter.)  While booties were a tempting option, being one of the cutest things ever, I know from experience that they're not always worn, and even less often displayed, since the baby's feet are usually tucked inside of a blanket (and when they are, is there really a need for booties?).  With all of this determined, I cast on for this hat, and finished it within just a few hours last night:


"Tubey" from Wee Wooly Toppers (Ravelry link, in case you want to purchase and have it saved in your Rav. PDF library)

Later on this afternoon I'll cast on for a pair of (thumb-less) mittens to match, and then I plan to crochet this chubby little sea creature.

After setting out to spin about 1lb total of wool for my children, it occurred to me that I should probably just dive into the stash to whip something up for Daisy, since it's already cold enough outside, and I didn't want her to have to wait however long the project might take me.  I had 8 oz of bulky 2-ply Rosebud (Spunky Club) from all of my summer spinning, which I had earmarked for her anyway. 

This is just about to be a very wordy/picture heavy post.  For those of you who are here for the pictures and don't want to have to read through everything (and for my own sake when I go back to see what I did in a few years!):

PROJECT SPECS

Patterns: Abalone (Ravelry link), Mittens 101, My Legwarmer Recipe
Sizes: Hat - size small, mittens - knit to fit, legwarmers - 2T
Yarn: Rosebud handspun bulky 2-ply, fiber from Spunky Club August 2008 (I had 397 yds total, but didn't come close to using it all).
Needles: Size 6 for mittens to wind and moisture proof them, 4.5 sts per inch.  Size 9 for everything else, 3.5 sts per inch.
Modifications: I left off the squiggles on the top of Abalone and scrunched up the back.  Also, I cast on for an x-small (re-figured the numbers), because my gauge was 3.5 instead of 4 sts per inch as in the pattern for size small 19" head.


On to the knits, already!


Abalone from Going Straight (Ravelry link)  Can I just say it?  I love Kitchner.  First, there's two edges, and then, like magic...



One seamless piece of fabric.  Very cool.  I want to knit everything sideways now.

As you can also see, I left off the squiggly things because I knew they'd end up getting all natty after one season of wear, and they would never all properly curl with the same curly-ness, and....well, I let my perfectionistic mind run wild.  So no curlies.

The hat was adorable, but wouldn't stay properly slouched on her, esp. whenever we were riding in the car or she was in the stroller.  It'd come down over her eyes, and she'd pull it straight off. 


(Here's what it looked like when it was actually on -- but you can see how it was already creeping down over her tiny face...)

I decided to rouche up the back with a drawstring tie, which solved the fitting problem nicely, and for next year I can either un-scrunch it a little, or take out the drawstring alltogether, depending on how much bigger it needs to be.


This, however, made her very, very angry.  She wept bitterly at the ruination of her hat (seriously -- that's the reason for the tears here.  She's only 18 months.  I find fashion decisions at this age completely unacceptable).



I also knit a pair of mittens, using the Mittens 101 pattern found in Knitty (love that customizable pattern!  It's so easy to use, and fits the recipient perfectly every time).




I still had a bunch of yarn left over (I had 8 oz total), and decided on a pair of legwarmers.  She's often in the stroller when we go out for walks, and her little legs get chilly.  Blankets are a terrible idea because she ends up kicking them half off and they drag, etc.  These legwarmers are perfect, because not only are they cute and practical, but she loves them!  (She was actually running around with just one on when I hadn't even woven in the ends yet, mid-project.)

Here they are finished (I want to put her in a little denim skirt sometime with the legwarmers -- that would be way too precious -- but my little dress-up doll was anxious to get outside yesterday, so purple jeans it was.):


I just so happened to notice that the inside and outside of one of my skeins had matching colors, and was able to knit an almost perfectly matched pair, which pleased me greatly.

For the "pattern", I just measured her leg, got gauge (from knitting the hat), cast on a reasonably close number of stitches that was divisible by 4, an knit 2x2 rib for just under 8 inches.

Here's the set in action (well, except for the mittens -- she was eating pretzels.)

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Weaving, spinning, knitting plans

Today I laid out my new cloth on the table for a closer look.



It's interesting to see the distinct learning curve in the fabric.



At the start, according to Betty Linn Davenport (the author of the book I referenced yesterday, Rigid Heddle Weaving), you are to weave 6 rows of waste yarn. I wanted to be sure that it contrasted well so that I could see what I was doing, thus the pink. Once I'd started, however, I decided to use up all that I'd wound onto my shuttle, because using such a high contrast was very helpful in figuring out exactly what I was doing.

You can see in the multi-green that at first, my fabric was very...drapey, shall we say. This IS a technique, although not the one I was aiming for yesterday.

Once I'd gotten a little more adjusted to what I was doing, I switched from the multi-green weft to a solid cream, and decided to experiment with a pick-up stick for a few stripes of a float pattern.



By the end, I had determined that, to make a fabric that I was happiest with, I needed to beat the heddle forward at an angle towards me, which packed things in nice and neat.



I also learned how to work in ends as I wove. Since the yarn is a firm cotton, I untwisted the plies, put the end into the next available shed, and then pulled out a few of the ends. After those were snipped off, it wasn't visible where I'd changed yarn.

I'm sure that wet finishing it would take out at least a little bit of the wobbly bits, but I'm not concerned with this piece. I'll worry about that more with future projects, but for right now, I'm considering this cloth done. Sparky, Max and Daisy are now the delighted owners of their very own handwoven blanket for their teddy bears. With little guys in the house, nothing has to go to waste!

The children and I went through my stash together, and they picked each picked out wool for this season's hat and mitten sets.

(In the column of three: Max, Daisy, Sparky)

As you can see, I've started on Daisy's today: 2 of the 8oz of Celebration (Spunky Club Shetland from 2007).

Not to overload you with pictures (wait, do I ever worry about that?), here are two skeins of handspun that I completely forgot to tell you about that I finished up this week:




This was the Bluegrass Franquemont Fibers batt that I posted about a few days ago.



2-ply, 142 yards, 1 oz, sport/fingering.

And then another Franquemont Fibers batt that started out like this:



And turned into this:



2-ply, 328 yards, 1.7 oz, laceweight/fingering.



I didn't realize that cream yarn could even be interesting, but this fiber blend is so perfectly creamy, complete with subtle glimmers of sparkling firestar, and the cashmere...and the silk...mmmmmm

Seriously, if you've never tried a Franquemont Fibers batt, you are missing out, my friend.

Tomorrow, I'll show you what I'm doing with the Bluegrass.

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Finished things

It's about time I showed you something.  I finished my Button Me Up sweater.  This happened sometime before Christmas.  Whoops!  Better late than never.


PROJECT SPECS
Pattern:  Button Me Up Pullover by Laura Chau
Needles: KnitPicks circular, magic loop style
Yarn: HandpaintedYarn.com Handspun Bulky Wool


I love the neck detail.

 


(Buttons found at my LYS.)

You might notice a slight difference in color in a band around the midsection.



This is because after I had completed the sweater I noticed two things: the sweater was a little too short for me, and ribbing looks terrible stretched over my belly.  I cut one stitch over the offending rib section and separated the bottom from the rest of the sweater.  I then ripped down until I had only two inches of rib (instead of the intended 4), and knit back up until I ran out of yarn.  I rejoined with the ball that I had finished knitting with at the top of the sweater. 

This was the same colorway and dyelot, but it was just slightly different.  It also appears that all of the stitches bias in the opposite direction, and I'm not sure if that's because I knit back down or what happened (at this date I can't remember exactly which way I knit when I was fixing the problem).  Anyway, I added several inches in this manner, and then kitchnered the entire thing back together. 

It shows a little, but not enough to make a real difference.  No one has stopped me on the street for rude questioning or anything, and I'm rather pleased with the sweater overall.  I wear it pretty much non-stop.  In fact, you may have noticed it in some pictures that have been taken since Christmas.

Christmas morning:


Cooking Christmas dinner:


Ice cream in Luxembourg:


Sharing Gelato in Trier:


Hanging out in Switzerland:


Shopping in Venice:


Yes, this sweater has been everywhere. I need another! I'm almost done with the back of Central Park Hoodie, but, of course, no pictures.

I do, however, have a shot of the completed had/mitten sets that I knit for the children on our trip down to Italy:

PROJECT SPECS
Pattern: My own for the hats, mittens were based on Mittens 101 from Knitty.com
Needles: KnitPicks circular, magic loop style (generally the only way that I knit in the round
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Superwash

These have all been put through very heavy use already, and I'm glad that I took the time to work them up. It really didn't take that much time -- I just kept putting it off for other projects.

Something that I haven't blogged about at all -- I'm knitting the Hemlock Ring Blanket, and am almost done with it already! This was my "in Italy" knit.


I'm on the row that Jared of Brooklyn Tweed highlighted as his last repeat, but I want to go a bit further to try and use up as much yarn as possible.

I've been busy at my wheel too:


8 oz Pie For Everyone Spunky Eclectic club.



Dark BFL, to be plied with the Pie For Everyone.

The finished yarn will be knit into a cardi (for me!)

Also, I'm very nearly done with the Five (Three) Fruits Party Dress Sweater for Daisy.



All that I need to do is to sew on the buttons.

I think that I'm all caught up now on knitting and spinning progress.  Next, I have a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe to share, and also one for curry powder!

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Noro Kureyon Sock: yarn review (and an FO)

**Edited to add my Sock Recipe for this pair**

The Noro socks are complete.

There's just something about Noro. The intense color saturation, the transition between colors, the handspun quality. It's almost enough to negate the stiff feeling hand, bits of splinter and twig throughout, and (of course) the requisite knot, screwing up the color sequence. (On that last bit, I snipped out the knot, then wound off almost an entire color repeat to get back to where I should have been. Pain in the arse, I tell you.) It also should be noted that I probably would have been wise to knit from the outside of the ball rather than pulling from the center, as this yarn sticks to itself even as it's coming out, and tangles just for the sheer joy of it.

"I am Mommy's little shadow. She seems to be totally absorbed in these things. I think I'll take a taste"

The knitted fabric was a little thicker than the usual fingering sock weight because of the slubs throughout, and felt a bit stiff. Much of the stiffness disappeared in the first wash, and although these will never be considered "soft" or "cushy", I didn't find them scratchy on my feet (for comparison, I do find Brown Sheep Wildfoot to make me itch wildly).


"This is how she's doing it, right?"

On the yarn's label, it doesn't specify if the wool is superwash or not, and it does say hand wash and dry flat, but when I squished them around in my wash (not so carefully -- but not too rough), I didn't notice any felting in the least. The yarn is tightly spun and includes 30% nylon content, which, along with my tight gauge, should make this a moderately hard-wearing sock, single-ply notwithstanding. I did go down one needle size to turn the heel though, just to be safe.


"Perhaps I'll just take the finished one out for a little play."

Bottom line: would I knit with this yarn again? If my local yarn shop begins to carry it....and it has, say, shade 185, 188, 164 or 092 in stock...right. It'll be in my little market bag. There are other yarns out there that might be more pleasant to knit, but...well, let me ask you this -- has the troubles with Noro ever stopped the masses in the past? No. There will be some negative reactions, yes, I'm sure, but overall, there's just nothing like Noro.

(She's actually been crawling around with one or the other sock since I completed them -- I guess it's never too early to start a Noro addiction.)

PROJECT SPECS
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock color #185
Needles: KnitPicks Classic Circular, size 1 (knit one at a time, cuff-down, magic-loop).
Gauge: 9 stitches per inch
Notes: These were knitted plain with a twisted 1x1 ribbed cuff. I started the second sock (color wise) right where I'd left off with the first one. Usually I am obsessively matchy-matchy, so this was pretty fun for me. I love the way they turned out.
Pattern: This is more of a recipe than anything -- get actual numbers for heel turn and such here (I did a round heel though like the one found here, not a Dutch one).
Cast on 64 stitches. Knit twisted 1x1 ribbed cuff for 1 inch (knit 1 through the back loop, purl one, repeat around). Switch to plain stockinette (knitting all stitches) for as many inches as you'd like (or, to be just like me, until it's 7 inches from cast on edge).
Begin slipped stitch heel-flap on 32 stitches and knit until it's a square (mine was 19 slipped stitches tall, or 38 rows).
Turn heel.
Pick up sts on edges of heel flap and knit in the round again until you reach base of big toe (for my US size 8-1/2 foot, I knit 7-3/4"). Begin toe decreases. Continue decreasing every other row until there are 24 stitches left. Graft closed with Kitchner stitch.


I finally discovered (a few pairs of socks ago), how to avoid a hole in the corner of the heel:

When I get to the spot where the hole always presents itself, I pick up a stitch from three rows down, twisting each stitch as I ladder it up. Not sure if that makes sense. Anyway, this makes it really really nice and tight, and I don't have a hole problem anymore. Not sure how I didn't think of this before.

I now have 8 pairs of handknit socks for myself. Eventually I'd love to have an entire month's worth. I wonder how many more I'll manage to knit for myself this year?



P.S. Thank you again to Jillian for gifting me with this gorgeous yarn!

S'mores cupcakes and wooly warmth

I've been so busy for the past few weeks. Besides producing the new podcast episode, I was also getting ready to fly home for a visit. My husband was leaving for a work-related thing that would take him away from home for about a month, and so I scrubbed my house from top to bottom (with the help of my friend Jillian!), and packed up myself and the kids and flew back to NY on Tuesday.

Anyway, that's my reason for not showing you this earlier.

It's the Button Me Up pullover from Cosmic Pluto, and I'm knitting it out of Handpaintedyarn.com Handspun Bulky in Wine Red. I sort of feel like a cheater because I'm using handspun that I didn't personally spin, but I'll get over it. I love the color; it's the perfect shade of burgundy.

I cast on for this a few weeks ago and was just starting the sleeves when I suddenly realized something -- I was going to run 2 skeins short, because I hadn't read the pattern carefully enough! (Pattern calls for 4 skeins in MAIN color and 2 in CONTRASTING. I was knitting it all in one color, and...right. Just 4 skeins.) I went on the Handpaintedyarn.com site to buy the two more needed, and found that they had sold out of the color! I really didn't want to rip everything back to knit it in two colors instead, so I searched around on Ravelry to see if anyone else had the same color that they'd be willing to sell me.

Two different people suggested emailing the yarn company to see if they had some extra in backstock that they just hadn't entered in the system. I did that, and as it turns out, there were 6 extra skeins just sitting there, unlisted!

I immediately ordered what I needed, and had it shipped to my mom's. It arrived yesterday, and I'm going to work on this exclusively until it's done.

This'll be my first "real" sweater that I've knit for myself, and I'm so excited to be able to actually wear it! It's been nice and chilly here too, so I'm sure that I'll get plenty of opportunity.

In other news, I finally blocked this.

PROJECT SPECS:
Pattern: Nightshade Canopy Shawl by Susan Laurance.
Needles: Size 9 KnitPicks metal interchangables
Yarn: My own handspun worsted/bulky, roving dyed by Amy of Spunky Eclectic
Notes: I will definitely knit this again -- probably a little bigger, in thinner yarn. It was a simple and satisfying project, and the pattern is well written and clearly laid out. I would recommend this for a first-time shawl project.

While in route to Paris, I worked on Sahara, and this is as far as I've gotten:

Since it's been so grey and cold out, I've just been having a hard time finding it in myself to work on it. All I want is to snuggle into warm, thick, wooly goodness. Silk and rayon just haven't been pushing my button as of late.

Yesterday, I made S'mores Cupcakes:

Cupcake recipe from Cupcake Bakeshop, marshmallow frosting from Yumbrosia. At Cupcake Bakeshop, Chockylit filled the cupcakes with marshmallow fluff, but I didn't want to loose any of the graham crackery goodness, so I decided to spread the ganache over the top like she did, and then to pile on some marshmallowy meringue on top (piped out of a plastic bag with corner snipped off). My little sister (9-year-old Rachel) helped me with the double-layer frosting, and we had quite a fun time in the kitchen together.

Chockylit found that her cupcakes didn't quite rise and shrunk while cooling, and I had the same experience. I didn't think that it affected the overal quality of the final product though, so it was fine. Next time, I'd add less butter as she suggested to see if that helps any.

They've been a big hit with everyone who's tasted these so far. There's a buttery graham cracker crust on the bottom, and then a graham cracker-laced not-too-sweet cupcake. The ganache is bitter dark chocolate, which contrasts nicely with the fluffy, supersweet billowy topping. I tosted them under the broiler as a last step (with oven door open, of course!), which really took them over the top. I was going to stick a square of chocolate into the marshmallow frosting, but decided to stop while I was ahead.