Highly productive (and no that doesn't mean I have bronchitis)

It means I've been knitting (and finishing things) like a maniac! Normally I'm terrible about finishing projects. I get to the 3/4 mark and completely lose interest in the project. I develop an overwhelming desire to knit something else and it's a chore to trudge through the last bit. But I never care since I'm a process knitter not a product knitter. But lately when I get to the 3/4 mark I can wait to get the item finished to see what it's like. Which has resulted in a huge number of finished items lately.

 

The teal sweater was started at the end of March. I have a photo from that insane Maine-DC-Dallas trip the first weekend of April that has the first few inches of the sweater sitting on my lap in the plane. This was my very first successful sweater - which means I've accomplished something that was on my lifetime goals list! The button I used I've had for about 6 years. It's the butt end of an antler, all squiggly and unmistakably natural.

The pink Candy Floss Cowl just came out of nowhere. I can't explain why I bought the yarn, or why I knit this piece. But I like it now, and it came together pretty quickly. It's got a lot of versatility, so may end up being a good item to wear this winter.

The purple sweater is an Anthropologie knock-off. It only took 250 yards to knit! The entire time I was knitting I kept saying No effin' way can you make a sweater with only 250 yards of yarn. And when it was done and I realized not only can you make a sweater with that little yarn, and an ANTHROPOLOGIE sweater at that, but that it's super cute and a great end to a weekend of knitting...uh, I'm not sure how to end this sentence, I think it surpassed run-on into some irretrievably bad-grammar point. But you know what I mean.

This sweater needs a clasp to close, which means I finally get the chance to use my vintage brooch collection!

The final piece is a scarf I knit as a thank you for someone. She really helped me make one of the more difficult decisions I've had to deal with this past year or so, and what better way to say thank you than with knitted goods? I've had this pattern favorited on Ravelry for ages so was glad for the excuse to knit it up.

There are actually a couple other things I've finished but I'm less spectacularly thrilled with them, so I'm leaving 'em off this blog roll. But if you're dying to see them check out Rattlefox on Ravelry.

Embarking on a new hobby!

Well, not entirely new. I've done weaving before. But never Tapestry weaving! And it IS another yarn-associated craft, so not like delving into woodturning or something. And it fits my rule of not being too bulky or expensive -- I have to make up rules like this or my house would be overrun by insane craft experiments. Don't tell my husband I said that, he already thinks that's true and I'd hate to see what he thought if he knew how much worse it could be.

So I was at my friend's house, in her awesomely envy-inspiring workshop that brings to mind a classic wood cabin complete with wee Franklin stove and a loft. She had her current tapestry on the loom and we started talking about how to build one myself. I dashed to the hardware store for the necessary supplies and she helped me build my very own copper pipe loom. I've been playing with ideas, drawing pictures, and imagining what I'd like to weave. I saw the local yarn shop was having a sale on tapestry yarn, and made a spur of the moment decision while driving there on what I would weave. Here's the yarns I bought.
The colors aren't as saturated in real life as this photo. That garish stripe of farm-raised egg yolk yellow isn't nearly so bad, and the greens are closer to grasses than rainforests like the photo suggests. So I have my yarn, my loom, my warp, my ideas. Now I just need to draw the picture so I know what and where I'm doing things. Keepin my fingers crossed, hope it all goes well!

A childhood dream realized

I remember being a kid and seeing Badge-A-Minit ads on TV. Oh, did I want one! I knew it would be the most awesome thing ever if only I could get one. But they were stupidly expensive for a kid, and I didn't get one. When I was in high school I again thought it would be great fun to have, but even with my own money they were still stupidly expensive and I did without. Now that I'm an adult, I again wished I had a B-A-M, decided to buy one, and went to the website. Wow. They're still stupidly expensive. Sure I'd pay 30 bucks now, but 70?? No wonder I never bought one in all the decades I've wanted it. I was telling a friend about my lifelong Badge-A-Minit dream and she opened the website on a whim. Damn if they weren't having a sale on them - the same price they were in 1988! Finally within my justification price range! I ordered it right then and there.

It's a bunch of rainbow color-coded rings and a hand press made out of a sturdy fiberglass-like plastic that reminds me of these weird chunky alphabet blocks we had as kids. The blocks were about twice as big as the classic wooden letter blocks, and hurt like hell if you threw one at someone. I have a imprinted memory of what it feels like to be clipped on the side of the head by one. I think it was yellow.
Anyway, in honor of the 2010 blizzard, I made a pin using my new B-A-M. It's a snowman sledding and he's completely filled with joy. Arms outstretched, heart lifted, smile literally ringing his face. I'm wearing it to work tomorrow.

Excitement, then disappointment...then hope?

I fell in love with this yarn from Steam Valley at a fiber show this past fall. It was at the very first booth I went to, and I spent a good chunk of money on it without caring that I might find other things later on I wished to buy. Now anyone who's attended a show knows you don't just go crazy buying the first thing you see. But this yarn refused to let me walk by. It's almost 500 yards of fingering weight superwash, and the photo does not do the colors justice.

I wanted to knit myself a pair of armwarmers from it. I found a pattern I liked with a chevron of ribbing down the arm. I swatched and my gauge matched PERFECTLY. Like, 7 1/4 sts/" on the button. Who gets that kind of accuracy -- or is it precision? No, I think it's accuracy -- on the first swatch with a different yarn and needle size than the pattern calls for? Call it serendipity, fortuitous, what-have-you. I was just thrilled for everything to be falling into place. Until I started knitting the project. The color repeats are much shorter than I thought, only about 4-6" which means they don't form stripes or even pools of color. They blend into a muddy palette that dulls the beauty of the skein of yarn. Very disappointing. I'd post a photo but I already unraveled it.

So, I still have the yarn begging to be knit, but no idea what to make it into. The color repeats just don't seem like it'll work for socks, yet that's what this yarn is intended for. I thought of something with short rows to keep the colors pooled, maybe entrelac, but they'd be really small squares. I might try the Swirl Shawl since I have the pattern, but don't know that I want to embark on a piecemeal project. Any suggestions or favorite patterns for this type of yarn?

Plus, and here's the craftastrophe part, I don't have a knitting project right now. I ordered yarn from Knitpicks to make a pair of hot pepper elf shoes but it hasn't shipped yet. This is not normal. I think all of us being snowed in has caused a wave of orders at KP that they can't keep up with. I need a portable pattern that I don't have to look at to work on in the carpool. I can't just let all that free time riding in the car to go to waste. I still like that armwarmer pattern, but don't have any appropriate yarn. I could dye some, but that won't help me NOW. I could knit them in white and dye them afterwards in a gradation or something. That's an idea...

The socks that never die

So remember that pair of socks I was knitting and FROGGING, and just couldn't get the size right? I bought new, slightly thicker yarn and it was all working beautifully. Knit down to the foot on the left sock, then cast on the right sock for a long car trip. Yes, these socks have definite left & right feet, which are mirror images of each other. After I knit the entire right sock I realize oops! I used the left sock's pattern by mistake. FROGGING! (Unravelling, for you non-knitters) Go back to the Left sock, and decide I should've used a slightly smaller needle (2.5 instead of 2.75) since the sock is slightly too big. Cast on the right sock again using the smaller needle to see how it looks and like it. Guess what my next task is? FROGGING the left sock completely! And restarting AGAIN!!! Astoundingly, I'm still liking the pattern and not minding that I could've knit 4 socks with the number of stitches I've wasted on this pair. In fact, these are going to have to be known as my Tetra-Socks now. Keeping figers crossed they don't turn into Penta-socks.

That pesky 1/2"

I normally make up my own sock patterns, so they are always the correct size. I'm delving into published patterns and twice encountered a problem I'm not sure how to address. My foot circumference is 8.5". One pattern I want to use give sizes for 8" or 9.25", nothing in between. I started the Maelstrom pattern in the 8" size and after a while tried it on to see how it fit. I couldn't stretch it over my heel! I assume that means it's too small, and try the large size, but it's way too big (I feel a bit like Goldilocks now). My gauge is correct, so that's not the answer. I love Cookie A's spiralling asymmetric patterns, but I think it's important to be able to knit the sock in a fitting size, rather than catering to odd sizing just to fit a pattern repeat. Ok, then I decide to knit the Holidazed pattern, which does give multiple sizes, but they are all whole inch sizes, so do I try 8" or 9"? I'm using knitpicks superwash sock yarn rather than the med. weight yarn called for, so I'm going to have use the largest listed pattern size since my gauge is so much finer.

So my foot (like my entire body) is apparently between 2 sizes. The 2-row striped socks were knit on 68 sts. (8.5") fit great. But I also have a pair of stockinette based socks knit on 64 sts. that also fit. I really like Maelstrom and WANT to knit it. But it's not very stretchy, and the 64 sts. for the pattern couldn't fit over my heel. What's the deal? The pattern repeat is 13sts, and it'd be impossible to break that up. But I might be able to tuck a few extra stitches in the pattern by making the 2st ribs into 3 st ribs. It would add 2 sts. per repeat, which would be 10 sts. overall. But that'll obviously change the look of the sock. Hmm...

I can't be the only person with this problem. What do you do? Make socks that are too big and may slouch? Fudge the numbers to make the size right? Skip patterns that don't give correct sizing? Grr! Whine!

Dr. Update, Moving & Crafting

I saw my oncologist for my 6 month checkup. Everything was good and very stable. He said I could change to annual visits now! It's a small thing, but means that he has total confidence in my health. So my next scheduled appointment is in June 2010. Wow! I'm glad too that I feel comfortable with this change. A few years ago I would have fretted not seeing him more frequently. But now I'm like "Hell yeah, check me out!"

As I've been boxing up my craft stuff, I've been rethinking some things. Oh, did I really say I would throw away all my nearly-finished projects that I didn't finish in time to move? Can I retract that? Yes, there was some wasted time in the evenings I could have been finishing projects, but really the time flew by faster than I anticipated. I DID finish a pair of harem pants that just needed hemming and a waistband--in time for a street festival performance, too. And I did "throw away" my handspun cinnamon bark sweater that had the front almost finished. When you unravel a large item, we say you're frogging it (rip-it, rip-it). I brought it along to our grandad's on the Solstice to work on, but when I held it up to myself I just knew it wouldn't be as long as the photo and that I'd never be happy. So in front of their shocked faces, I pulled out the needles and started frogging. Making a handspun sweater and wearing it is STILL on my list of things I want to do one day.

Speaking of frogging things, I'm about half done with my second rainbow 2x2 knee sock and I think I might stop at a crew sock length and rip the finished one back to match. The sock is stretched to its max around my calf and I hate the look of stretched knit stitches. Besides, I already have more socks I have to knit as presents before winter, and I'm dying to cast on a lace shawl I recently got the yarn for.

No catchy title, just good fun

My sister-in-law just came for a visit (well, my brother was there too, but she & I went off on our own). We had a delightful time starting at the local wine shop for their weekly tasting and buying some rare & unusual wines with my brother. He met up with an old friend there and we went our separate ways. Our next stop was to the local donut shop (a request from my bro) to pick up some stunningly fabulous donuts. Not even sure how to accurately describe how wonderful they are - small batch, freshly made, soft inside with a crisp tooth on the outside, worth breaking any diet for.

Then on to the local yarn store, where we sat on the floor pulling together colors for our next 2-row projects. We unconsciously were holding the potential yarn balls the same way, and laughed when we saw the result. I think she got the one on her thumb in the end. I found a perfect colorway combination, but the yarn was just a bit crispier than I'd like so I talked myself out of it in the end. The women are not very welcoming at this shop, so we left and went next door to Starbucks (stopping by the car to pick up a donut) to knit and chat. I think we spent a couple hours there. The conversation was great and it was neat that we were working on essentially the same project in different colorways-you can see my scarf below. When are they going to invent teleporters so we can get together on a regular basis for craft-chatting?We got the crazy idea to go back home and dye some self-striping yarn ourselves, since I didn't get any at the shop. I do this regularly so it's not that crazy, just the spontenaity (good god that doesn't look spelled right) that made it seem so. We haul out my warped warping board and begin winding the yarn to prep for dyeing. She was an extremely helpful assistant during the winding process. After we finished we talked about what colors we wanted, and neither of us were definite about anything. So we bundled it all away for future use and went out to dinner with the guys. We already have too many plans for the next time we see each other (in a few weeks!).

Useless yet awesome display of math

Hyperbolic geometry is a bit beyond my mental skills of understanding. "The parallel postulate in Euclidean geometry is equivalent to the statement that, in two dimensional space, for any given line l and point P not on l, there is exactly one line through P that does not intersect l; i.e., that is parallel to l. In hyperbolic geometry there are at least two distinct lines through P which do not intersect l, so the parallel postulate is false." Whatever. Math skills is one of the reasons I'm a biologist, not a chemist. But I can still be awed and impressed by math. Particularly when the math is modeling a biological process (don't even get me started on phi). And impressed by the weirdness that occurs when intellectuals whip out their craft skills. Here's my favorite example: A crocheted hyperbolic plane. If I remember correctly, a math prof. had a paper model that was getting ragged, and decided to craft one that could stand the test of time. Of course it became a internet-craft thing and there are some freakin cool examples now. So cool in fact, that I may have to whip out a crochet hook and make one myself. Because I have so much spare time on my hands, and so much empty space that needs filling in my house. Yeah. Right. And you know I'm a knitter, not a crocheter. But just look at those pictures, how can I help myself?

Woolgathering & Rooing

Ok, this post is only halfway about fiber. Read on.

I know woolgathering as collecting fluff from bushes & fences where animals shed. According to the dictionary the main definition is fanciful daydreaming. Whatever. I know rooing as the long echoing howl our hound makes - aaarrrooorooroo, but knew deep down it has some fibery connotation as well. It's the gathering of fiber by plucking the shed parts from an animal directly.

I always gathered Katie's undercoat for spinning. It's so soft it rivals cashmere and is jet black. I spun the fiber and knit D. a hat and scarf from it. That is our special bow that has been reused on every present we give to each other for years. I still have a small bag of gathered fur to be spun. She was shedding a lot from a recent bath, and the house is currently drenched in dog fur. Normally I'd just vacuum it up and be happy with the clear carpet for a day. But I can't get any more fiber, all we have left is what's on the ground and furniture. So now I'm woolgathering. I'm using a comb and gleaning as much as I can from everywhere I see it. Every tuft is a few more inches of yarn. No, this isn't crazy, it's resourceful.

Freakin' pattern idiots

There's a good reason I never use knitting patterns, and why I have yet to successfully knit a sweater for myself. Because most knitting patterns SUCK! I'm sorry, but if you're using a pattern published in Knitter's Magazine, the highest rated knitting mag in the US, it should not have so many errors that even an experienced knitter (with the full backing of the Ravelry community) can't follow it. Huge glaring errors, like telling you to start a design element at one spot, then several inches later (hours of knitting time) realizing there is no way that's correct. Yep, look at the photo right next to the pattern text and there is NO WAY AT ALL it is correct as written. Ravelers agree, and one even wrote the magazine for a list of errata without success.

So now I'm torn. I really really like this sweater and want to make and wear it. I have the perfect handspun yarn for it, and except for the chunks of errors it is relatively easy to knit. BUT, I'm already pissed and I'm only 1/3 through the front left piece, and the Ravelers warned the back is where all the frustrating problems are. I can keep working through it, hoping to avoid most errors by carefully reading, and tearing out hours of work when I do find yet another pattern mistake that's not visible immediately. Does not sound like fun. But it took me forever to find this pattern and I haven't seen any others that were as attractive to me. I'm pretty sure I definitely want something asymmetric or angled. Preferably a cardigan. My yarn is sport weight (size 3 needles) and fairly dark - so complex cables or such would be lost. Le sigh. I will frog this current craptastrophe back to the last correct row, then try again altering the pattern to match the photo. If I hit another major error after this one in the next couple days I probably will say something unladylike and find a new sweater to knit. Wish me luck.

Braveharlot Inspired Me

I was talking with my fellow handspinner and gardener Lawre (maker of the famous "Stuff for your Fluff" custom bags and needle books) this weekend while pulling weeds in our garden. I said I haven't spun much in 2008, that I just don't have anything interesting worth spinning up in my pitiful stash. This is a sign that it's been TOO LONG since I've been to a fiber festival, and we immediately ran through the dates for the upcoming shows. Lawre said her stash had more than enough to go around, and we should dig through it once we were done digging in the dirt. She pulled out bin after bin of different fibers, and it was as much a revelation to her what was in the boxes as it was to me. I found several different bags I wanted to take home and just couldn't decide which to choose. I was delighted when she said I could have it all. Here's part of what I got:

This is a blend of mohair and border leicester. Not my colors normally, but something about it just grabbed me. I started spinning this as soon as I got home while rewatching Fellowship of the Ring (which I haven't seen in years). It glides out of the hands and is really dainty as yarn. There's not a lot in the bag, not sure if I'll ply it on itself, with wooly nylon to make a gimp (bumpity) yarn, or with a solid color wool for a stripey yarn to make it stretch further. It's just fun to be spinning again.

This next one is also mohair & border leicester. I learned to spin on a mohair wool blend and didn't like it at the time, but things are quite different now. The fiber has a particular smell that is very reminiscent of when I first learned to spin (egads, 11 years ago). I think this will make a really richly colored yarn when plied on itself. I think there's enough roving for something like a vest or cropped sweater. I've always wanted to knit a vest for myself, maybe this will be it. (God only knows why - I don't wear sweater vests, but it's an odd compulsion I think I should listen to).

Here's another small batch I got, very earthy and masculine. It would definitely be enough for a hat and maybe scarf or something. Also mohair/border leicester blend. Border Leicester is not usually one of my preferred wools, a bit too coarse for my snobby tastes. But this is really nice and soft, no scratchiness at all. All the photos look like they have white/lightly dyed sections, but that's just the flash reflecting off the lustrous mohair. All of these blends came from Kid Hollow Farm, and if I'm in the market for a mohair blend I will definitely see what they have up for sale next time.

All of this fiber is outside my normal realm of spinning. I normally work with naturally colored merino and blue-faced leicester wools. Color, luster, long staple length, mohair -- it's been so long since I dealt with these adjectives, it makes me feel like a new spinner again.