When Life Gives you Lemons...

When life gives you lemons, you cast on a cashmere project. It's guaranteed to make things 1000% better.

This past week, I had a small 'incident' during a sports activity, and managed to rip my achilles tendon...completely. It hurt like a SOB. I went to Urgent Care and they put me in a molded splint.

Of course, it was cold today, and as a knitter, we have warm things. DH took one of his house socks and it fit neatly over the HUUUGGEEE boot/splint. But at least my toes were now warm.

Unfortunately, after this happened, one of the first things I thought about (besides being in pain) was not being able to SPIN! I had plans this coming up weekend to be spinning at a craft night with friends! Plus Frank was going to fall farther and farther behind! So I tried to console myself as any knitter would do.

I cast on a cashmere project.

I usually try not to have too many things on the needles. However, as this was a major thing that means that I will be laid up with minimal movement for a while (as there is surgery involved) AND no spinning, I decided that I need to cast on something "soothing" and something that will make me smile.

So, I grabbed my Tess Kitten yarn that I got at Stitches this year, and cast on a Twisted Rib cowl, because knitter needs a little cashmere in their lives just to make yourself smile.

And this stuff? 50% cashmere/50% silk....is soooo wonderfully soft, I have to refrain from burying my face in it so I can knit it up into a wonderful cowl that I can bury my face in on those cold days. I am also planning on leaving enough to cast on some handwarmers as well...just coz.

Coming out of Hibernation and into the Frog Pool

This year, I thought to finish off some of my FOs from last year. One UFO was a flat-knit seamed cardigan out of alpaca that I started back in January 2010. I had made all of the body pieces, and just needed to finish the sleeves.

So, I blocked all of the body pieces, and started in on the sleeves in-the-round. I was good and went on Ravelry to check out all of the user found errors and fixes that they made.

After blocking, I seamed the body pieces together and put on the first sleeve. Then I tried it on....

Only to find that it doesn't fit. Despite blocking to the prescribed size, the shoulder cap/shoulder seam doesn't lie where it's supposed to lie and it fits all wonky. I'm very disappointed, but not surprised.

This was one of the first sweaters I attempted to knit, and unbeknownst to me, the pattern had all sorts of issues found by other Ravelry users. Many did their own modifications to make it fit, but I hadn't done that for the body as I was still new to knitting and didn't know about things like errata, Ravelry user modications/comments, and the ilk. There might also be issues about my own gauge which has changed over the past year since I started knitting it....plus I don't think the alpaca was a good choice yarn for me to use for one of my first sweaters.

I'm afraid this one is coming right out of hibernation and into the frog pool. The alpaca is very lovely, and I will have to pick out all of the seams and frog to salvage the oh-so-lovely yarn ...which is going to be a chore in of itself.

I still love how the sweater looks, and will have to make it much later with different yarn and after resizing it to fit ME.

Stitches West -- came and went

This past weekend was Stitches West. Last year, I went a wee bit hog-wild in the market place, so I promised myself that I would be more restrained in my shopping.

I had "rules"
1) I would not buy anything I couldn't already purchase at my LYS
2) I would buy quality versus quantity...and maybe splurge on some more luxury items.
3) I wanted sock yarn -- specifically Blue Moon sock yarn for more boot socks (I love their stuff). If I could only get a few skeins and nothing else, I would be good.

Since DH had given me V-day money to spend, my budget had grown considerably, and I wanted to stay in budget.

So I went on Friday, as it would be far less crowded than the weekend, and with far more quantities of goods available. After a hearty breakfast, I got there an hour after opening, and wandered the marketplace looking at this year's new yarn samples, patterns, and whatnought. I ran into many friends and acquaintences, so we talked knitting & fiber (of course).

Bijou fibers had a "yarn tasting" where you could try Signature Needles and some lovely yarns. (The yarns were lovely, and I didn't quite "take" to the Signature needles)

And all around me, the spending sprees had already begun. I picked up quite a few things here and there following my general "rules"

- the aforementioned sock yarn
- one ball of quivit / silk blend -- Oh so decadent! (and they had a show special)
- 1/2 ounce of quivit fiber to spin -- I know that it's *not* enough to really do "anything" with, but I wanted to at least *TRY * and spin with it.
- a pair of beautiful glass circular knitting needles that I tested at the dealer,
and they're LOVELY to work with AND she has a lifetime guarantee.

(This is Gigi Knitmore's fault, really. She recommended that I go over to a specific vendor and look at her glass work. I did, and the vendor had these lovely knitting needles to try...which I did...and fell in love.... Apparently, the Knitmore "enabler" tendencies are genetic.)

- some blank silk hankies to dye and dyed silk hankies to knit with
- a beautiful 400 yard skein of cashmere and silk
- some beautiful mixed shetland fiber to spin (moorit, white, and black)
- sampler bumps of yak / yak-silk fiber to play with (as practice for the quivit)
- a small alpaca teddy bear (OMG so soft!)
- a replacement for my turkish spindle that I lost at the SLO ren faire last year.

There were a lot of other things that I looked at, picked up, and even got in line to purchase, but decided that they did not fall into my 3-rule set that I set for myself.

Overall, I stayed quite under my budget, so much so that I came back on Sunday for the last two hours of the marketplace to pick up 2 sweaters worth of cashmere/wool blends during the "last day specials" and ended up spending less than half of retail for one sweater.

Stitches West

Stitches West starts tomorrow (or at least I'm going there tomorrow)....and I'm a little bit excited.....

SQUEEEE 

(ahem)

DH was kind enough to give me pocket money for Stitches as his V-day gift to me, because he knows I'm going shopping. so I'll be picking up a few additional things here and there. And yes, I do have a list to try and keep myself in check. :-)

Polyamorous Relationships

In regards to my last entry about spinning Frank on Nona (my Ashford Kiwi), I haven't been completely honest.

I haven't exactly been monogamous with Frank & Nona this entire time but taking some time to spend with DH's Xmas gift, Joy.

and working through some lovely mixed BFL (1 pound).

However, I'm planning on Navajo plying these singles, so I'm not even bothering splitting them into 1 ounce quills. And I'm currently 5 ounces into the full pound.

This is a totally polyamorous relationship between myself, Nona, and Joy....not to mention Frank and the nameless mixed BFL. I'm trying to split my time evenly between all of them (which doesn't always work) but I do feel guilt twinges here and there.

I wish I had more time to spend with all of them.

Frankie Baby

Currently, I'm still spinning away on Frank. Per Jasmin's spinning lessons & suggestions, I'm only spinning an ounce of fiber and transferring them to quills before spinning another ounce.

This technique works well for me, as I can easily get through an ounce in one long sitting, or 2 spinning sessions if I only have a short amount of time. However, the downside to only spinning 1 ounce at a time is seeing the HUGE PILE that is left of Frank. I am not a production spinner by any means. (Currently, I only have 12 quills (12 ounces) of Frank spun up as singles. My half of Frank is 3.25 pounds.

Tangent Math Time!
16 ounces / lb = 52 ounces = 52 quills.
I still have 40 quills left to finish before I can really start plying. (OOFDA!)

The sheer number of what I have left to finish is daunting, to say the least, but currently, I'm looking at it one quill/ounce at a time. EVENTUALLY, I'll get through Frank. And then it's a matter of plying, THEN knitting. I hope to finish my Frankie Sweater by the end of the year. Ooof.

I know that if I just plow through Frank that I could be done within a shorter amount of time, but it's a matter of having that much dedicated time. Sometimes I fear that Frank feels neglected, although I know he is a very patient ram and doesn't mind at all. He just sits there and taunts me silently with his lovely chocolately brown goodness....whispering, "spin me....."

And he is ever-so-lovely to spin.

FO: Socks & Mitts

So, as mentioned previously, I've been getting a lot of knitting done on my commute to work. I knitted myself a new pair of socks that I made
out of skein I picked up at my LYS (Cascade Heritage Paints). It's a generous skein with nearly 500 yards in the skein. And I really like how well it knits up.



In addition, I designed my own hand warmer using the same skein as the socks and the same design elements. It's cute. I like it. The increases are incorporated into the design.

I made the right hand first, and it fits like a glove (pun intended). It's easy knitting with enough 'interest' to keep it from getting too boring.



Unfortunately, when I made the matched pair, it's not fitting as well as I would like (unlike the right one). I only made cursory notes when making the first and I tried to knit to match the glove and not my hand. I made the thumb portion too big, and the part around the fingers a bit too tight. But I know what I did wrong and will make corrections as I want to reknit the left hand.

Luckily, I have MORE than enough of the Cascade Heritage so I can easily make the 3rd glove, and I'll probably have enough left over for a baby hat or two.

Then, eventually, I'll write it up as the handwarmers as actual pattern!

Commute Knitting

Currently, I'm back working up North again, which means taking the train to work. The train ride (each way) is about 30-50 minutes (depending on whether or not I get the bullet train).

Either way, I'm guaranteed at least 1 hour per day of dedicated knitting time. The commute isn't the greatest, but at least I'm getting lots of knitting done in the meantime.

This meant I finished a new pair of socks in under a week. And I designed, cast on, and finished the first of a pair of fingerless mitts.

Care Tags

Now, I thought this was really nifty idea for knitted or crochet gifts.

Make Care Tags

She saves "the care instructions taken from the wrapper on your skein of yarn, and a nice supply of yarn in the colors" from the project.

(From the website)

She takes a piece of nice cardstock, glues the care instructions on it, and places some of the scrap yarn on the cardstock. She suggests adding an extra button if the knitted gift has buttons.

Now, for the most part, most people (unless they are a knitter or crocheter) will not be using the scrap yarn at all. But, for a knitter/crocheter? That scrap of yarn is a nice little extra thoughtful touch that allows them to mend injuries without trying to match yarn.

FO: Color Palette Cardigan

After much work, I finally finished the sweater I started back in December, which I had dubbed the "black-hole-of-knitting", but which is finally named the "Color Palette Cardigan".

It's based off the Elizabeth Zimmerman Yoke Sweater, but crochet steeked.

The yarn is a combination of commercial yarn, and the handspun that I had made as part of the Tour de Fleece of 2010.

The yoke, cuff, and hem are from handspun, and the rest in Cascade 220 black yarn. I was inspired by the Kaleidoscope Yoke and Folklore. The cuffs & hem are different than the body of the sweater. There's a little bit of texture in the yoke, but I tried to keep it subtle.

First, I knit both sleeves (2-at-a-time), then started the body of the sweater after the sleeves were done. There's a grosgrain ribbon backing for the sweater edges. And I have to add silver clasp closures to the yoke portion, once I find appropriate closures for it. (I think they add a little bit more than just buttons.)

After blocking, it grew a little bit "longer" than I wanted, so I threw it into the dryer at medium heat for about 15 minutes, which tightened up the stitches a bit, but did not felt it.

Christmas Gift...

I've been meaning to post this since the Christmas holidays, but I haven't had the time to take photos.

However, this is what DH gave to me for Christmas!

Lovely, isn't she?!?

Black Merino to the Rescue!

A bit ago, I purchased a beautiful vintage wool coat at a local thrift shop. There was nothing wrong with it, except that it had 4 small rips right at the top & bottom of each of its vertical pockets. These are normal wear & tear problems. I wasn't sure how I was going to mend them; and Google-fu failed me on how to mend actual wool coats without it looking like crap.

But, a previous needle felted project gave me inspriation. I grabbed my felting needles, some black merino wool (for spinning), needle/thread, and set to work.

I darned as invisibly as I could along the tears, then took the black Merino wool (which was a PERFECT match to the wool coat, and set to needle felting the tears.

Before

After

This worked better than expected, and now the tears are basically gone, leaving me with a wonderfully warm long coat to wear.....now that the weather has turned into beautiful warm weather.

Go figure. :-)

The Lure of Chunky

My yarn choices usually run from sockweight to worsted weight yarns. Occassionally, I delve into laceweight or bulky/chunky weight yarns. However, upon working on two back-to-back hat projects using chunky yarns, I'm kinda liking it. Because they arns knit up a lot more quickly than thinner yarns. (As I slog my way through a sweater using worsted weight yarn)

However, I DO like how the thinner yarns drape better when knit up. I enjoy a more drapey 'hand' on my fabrics. On the other hand, there is the lure of finishing up a project Very Very quickly.

Currently, I'm sticking to hats using chunky/bulky yarns. BUT, I'm tempted to knit a warm outer wear sweater using chunky yarn....but the temptation isn't so great as to warrant even starting that type of project.


I'm currently knitting up a hat (my own design) for my BIL using Cascade 128 Superwash (their chunky/bulky weight yarn), and it's Unbelievable Soft and warm. I'm very much enjoying the knitting process for it. I also have some Cascade Eco (in blood red) that I have on order for another quick knitted project (for all of this cold weather we're having).

On a completely unrelated note: I did get The Most Fantastic Christmas gift for 2009! It's amazing. I love it, and it's totally fiber related.

I've been meaning to actually post more about it, but I haven't had time to take photos. And one must have photos for this type of post.

I will get to that this weekend. I'm backlogged on Stash and Project photos

An Email from a Friend

It's the little things that make a knitter's heart sing. I just got this email from a friend.

-------
I just gotta say thanks...


Seriously, this hat is one of the coolest things I've owned. I am wearing it constantly.

Thank you so, so much.

-----

Hat Quest + FO

I'm currently in search of the perfect knitted "hat" for myself. I want one that:

1) will play nice with my hair -- (my hair will frizz if you look askance at it. Putting a close fitting wool hat? Disaster)

2) stays pretty darn warm (this unusually cold weather for California is making me dream of enclosing myself in warm fleece and hibernating for the rest of winter)

I found the Capucine pattern on Ravelry, and thought "PERFECT".

I dug through my stash and pulled out my cable plied garnet & my coiled art yarn, which are a good color match



Unfortunately, they weren't the right weight yarn. So I made a 3ply out of the cabled yarn and matched the coiled art yarn with some Knit Picks Eggplant sock yarn to make a matching 4-ply.

At that point, I started knitting, and pretty much got gauge with 10.5 needles.

There was a bit of frogging at times as I tried to balance out the purple cabled yarn with the coiled to get enough ratio so I didn't run out of the purple cabled yarn.

Eventually, I muddled my way through it, and had enough yarn left over to make purple cabled tassles. The whole hat is lovely, soft, and warm.....and just a tad big for my head. (I guess I have a small head). But, it fits DH well, and looks pretty good on him. On me, I look like a Swiss Snowbunny.

BUT it's soft, cozy, and oh-so-warm, and I've worn it a few times, and it does do the aforementioned points above. However, I look like a Swiss Snowbunny.

So, I continue my search for a nice hood that plays well with my hair that keeps me warm.

I'm currently looking at:

* Through the Woods -- a hood/cowl combo

* Heelhead scarf -- which would be a nice combination of a scarf and a hoodie

* Hoodwink -- similar to Heelhead, but with a sharper pointed hood.

So, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with myself in regards to my HatQuest. I already know what color I want -- a nice heathered dark red -- I'm fancing something akin to Red Riding Hood. But perhaps a trip to my LYS should be in order.

A Year in Yarn

In no particular order, the following is a photocollage of all the fibery goodness that's happened in 2010. (Note: Only FOs** and finished spun yarn)



Simultaneously, it looks like a lot, but, also not a lot. There's a total 21 FOs and 12 spun skeins. That comes out to one finished yarn project per month and 1.75 FO per month. It's funny, but I thought I had knitted more, but apparently not -- I honestly thought I had made more socks.

Although, 3 finished sweaters for the year isn't a bad thing at all, esp. since I have only been at this knitting thing for ~2 years.

Now, onto 2011 knitting!
-----
** If I listed all of the unfinished objects or WIPs, it' only add about 4 more projects. And yes, there are two sets of socks that look similar as I had plenty of yarn left over to make a second set!