Cocoons and emergence

Dear Eyeknit,

Imagine that I am a larva, sleeping in its cocoon, but just beginning to emerge. I like the fibery analogy of having been woven into a cocoon and now trying to wiggle my way out of it. I've felt a lot like that, sort of away from the world and recently, digging and crawling and poking my way back towards it. Let's hope that I emerge as something beautiful, eh? Because otherwise, it won't have been worth the wait.

I have, of late, been knitting again, a reliable sign of my returning mental stability and well-being. In fact, I'm almost overwhelmed with projects to share with you so I'm going to start with a very tiny one. A square for an afghan.

But first, a little background. Some of my favorite books ever are the Discworld novels, by Terry Pratchett. They are a little like a comfort blanket to me, and I reread them when the world is too much with me for their marvelous wit and magical worlds and happy endings. Then, soon after my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers, Terry Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimers. He is only 59. My mother is only 68. I felt such a wave of impotent rage and sadness and loss.

Then, the marvelous people at Ravelry, particularly the absolutely smashing Shirley, who is known on Ravelry as CherryRed, came up with the idea for making Terry Pratchett--who happens to be a knitter--an afghan and each of the squares would reference one of the very many Discworld books. It was exactly the sort of outlet I needed, since knitting cures everything, you konw. And I chose as my design a corruption of moment from a book called Soul Music when an elderly wizard, newly infected by the beat of Music with Rocks In, made himself a long wizarding jacket which read: Live Fats Die Yognu (because he got confused while working from the back). And here it is.

And then the amazing, marvellous Shirley collected all these squares, sewed them all together, backed them, contacted (repeatedly) Terry Pratchett's publicity person, and then just today, managed to present the afghan--in person--to Terry Pratchett.
It's huge and wonderful and you can see all the squares here, on Flickr and on Ravelry, you can peek at this thread to read all about it.

But to get the full story, please read this post on Shirley's blog and give her all the love she deserves for making this project happen.

Did I say it was a tiny project? I lied. It's huge. And I feel like fluttering around the room.

FO: Hydrangea Scarf

Dear Stuntmother,

I had a hankering to knit lace recently. Although there are multifarious lacy projects to be browsed on Ravelry, I decided to use the only laceweight occupying space in my stash. I bought this yarn from Spirit Trail Fiberworks at last year's (2007) Maryland Sheep and Wool. One of my patients works in that booth, and she tells me wonderful things about the dyer and owner...her color sense as well as how picky she is in fiber prep and yarn quality.

Anyway, I had this yarn and pattern picked out for each other. I love hydrangeas (mine haven't bloomed yet, as you can see above), and I wanted to knit this in a variegated colorway. This one has mostly sea greens and smoky blue-grey, with a little spring green thrown in. The yarn is very fine, but was nice to work with. The pattern is by Eugen Buegler (of Frost Flowers and Leaves fame). It was kind of a pain, because the repeat is 64 rows long, and although it became very, very familiar, I was still stuck looking at the chart for almost every line to see where the hydrangea blossom started and ended.

Project: Hydrangea Lace Scarf, by Eugen Buegler, from Fibertrends

Size: I blocked it to about 12" by 60". It relaxed an inch or two in width after playing around with it for a while. A good size for one loose knot, or one wrap around the neck. This was only 6 total repeats of the pattern, not the 7 specified in the pattern.

Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks 100% merino lace. It took only one skein (a little less than 500 yds). I bought two, just in case, as the pattern specified 550 yds. Do you want to knit this one (Miss Backyard-full-of-hydrangea-bushes)? The yarn is yours if you want it.

Needles: KnitPicks Harmony, US #4. Nice and pointy for lace.

Time to knit: I don't know...about a month?

Comments: I'm not exactly sure how I'll wear this one...I guess with a dressy white blouse would work. Although it's scarf-shaped (as opposed to stole-like or shawl-y), I don't really see it with a winter coat. Maybe a trench coat? What do you think? I need Tim or Clinton and Stacy to advise me.

I probably need to re-block it, as we were in a hurry to leave the house that day. I painstakingly threaded the blocking wires through each edge stitch, but I did a shoddy job with the short ends. In the pattern they just gently undulate, without any pointy bits.

More lace coming up!

Love,
Eyeknit

Mostly Matching or Practically Perfect?

Dear Stuntmother,

Today's title refers to our visit to NYC last Saturday...we stood in line at the TKTS booth and got half-price tickets to Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was absolutely (if you'll excuse the obvious) supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The dramatic themes are somewhat different from those in the film and some songs were excised and others written, and the whole production was magical and rousing and fun. We've all been dancing around since, singing "Practically Perfect" and "Spoonful of Sugar" and the above-mentioned word which William can almost spell now. Family fun.

So, anyway...
As you know, I knitted 24 pairs of socks in 2007, yet have knitted only a grand total of two pairs in the first third of 2008. The sock mojo left me...but I think now it's back.

Pattern: My first time writing a pattern from total scratch, though they were totally inspired by these on Ravelry. I started them in early January, before this pattern was available for purchase. I futzed around a lot with the numbers, to make a sock that would fit me with a cable I liked, running up one side only. The pair took so long that I had to continually inspect the first one, to detect exactly how I had made it. Although I think this cable is called the Wheatear Cable in the calendar of stitches, I think of it as the Whale's Tail Cable, since I completed a good part of the second sock at SeaWorld, watching William ride the Baby Shamu rollercoaster over and over again.

It's toe-up using Magic Loop, Judy's Magic cast-on increasing to 64 stitches, a mini-gusset to 68 sts, and a Sherman heel. I used a variety of methods to increase for my biggish calves. I started the foot on a small US #1 (2.25 mm), then switched to the larger US #1 (2.50 mm). I spaced the cable twists a little further apart as the sock grew upwards, and I snuck in two extra purl stitches on either side of the cable near the top.

Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn, color #S184. How did I like it? Well, maybe the yarn is why it took me 3+ months to knit a pair of socks. It's just like regular Kureyon: rustic and sticky. It sticks to wooden needles and sticks to itself horribly. I always spend tons of time untangling the center-pull ball with Noro yarns. However, I like how it knits up, and the colors are undeniably stunning. As you can see, I started each toe at the same portion of the long color repeat, but there wasn't enough to make the tops match exactly. I had to splice in an unmatching portion to finish the cuffs. Granted, that part will be underneath my pants, but I know it's there. Mary Poppins would have made a second ball appear to finish them perfectly.



Next...

Pattern: Top-down K2P2 ribbed socks from Vogue Knitting's Ultimate Sock Book.

Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn in Venus in Furs (my fabulous birthday gift from you, Stuntmother!) Very generous yardage...tons left.

Needles: Addi Turbo US# 1 (2.5 mm) Magic Loop

Time to Knit: 2 weeks--that's more like it!

Comments: Perfectly Striping = Perfectly Gratifying.


Again, I started at the same point in the stripage, and they are precise twins. Despite the heel flap and turn, the wide stripes didn't change much at the instep, which tickles me to no end. This yarn looks like it'll hold up well, and it was a pleasure with which to knit.

There's another pair of socks on the needles...

Spit-Spot!

Love,
Eyeknit

Party Gloves

Dear Stuntmother,

When I received the Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club offering for December, I was stymied. However would I use this rather jarring colorway? (That's not my own fiber, but it looked the same). It's called Party Dress, and was intended to be reminiscent of 1980's fashion. I've successfully forgotten all the horrible things I wore in the 80s, so this wasn't a happy reminder. However, when the package was opened, William squealed, "Pretty colors, Mommy!" So, he'd get something knit from this fiber.

It took me a good month to spin the skinny singles, and then Navajo ply them. I realized the only way to make this colorway work was to keep each color separate. Given the choice between socks, gloves and mittens, William chose gloves. Disclaimer: all FO photos are unblocked. I couldn't get them back from their new owner to make them all pretty.


Pattern: Ann Budd's basic glove pattern. I highly recommend this one. It makes simple gloves easily customizable for finger length, and the pattern is pretty easy to remember. These are the 6-8 year old size, with a gauge of 7 spi.

Yarn: My own handspun, from Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club, Party Dress. 100% superwash Corriedale, Navajo plied and about 16-18 wpi (a light sportweight).

Needles: Addi Turbo US #2 (3.0 mm), Magic Loop

Time to knit: about 3 days for each glove. When fingers aren't fair isle, they're really fast.

Comments: He loves them--they're easy to get on, easy to latch his seatbelt in the booster seat, and I love knitting them. A fun, fast little project. The entire pair weighs only 32g. I have another skein of this yarn left, so maybe when he outgrows these, I can whip up another pair.

Love,
Eyeknit

FO: My Gansey Boy

Dear Stuntmother,

William really loves his new sweater. This one was a real collaboration between knitter and recipient. I wanted to make him a gansey using Beth Brown-Reinsel's book, but he chose the yarn (from the stash!), the welt, the initial, and the collar. I must say that gansey knitting, at least in worsted yarn, is fun and fast.


Project: Jerod's Gansey, from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel, in the 32 1/2'' size, which she calls age 10-12.

Yarn: Valley Yarns Amherst, 100% merino, from WEBS. Required significantly less yarn than pattern stated. Lovely stitch definition and very soft. Will it pill? Probably, but he'll outgrow it quickly, too.

Needles: KnitPicks Harmony 24" circular, US#7 in right hand, US#6 in left for faster knitting in the round.

Time to Knit: 2 weeks.

Modifications: Custom single initial on lower left body.
Other Mods: Pattern uses a 1x1 ribbing for the lower border. William liked the split garter welts featured in the sample gansey I made for Lambie (see 2 posts ago). They were knit on US #5 needles flat, then joined for knitting in the round and increases made for the full # of body stitches.

Sizing: BBR suggests two inches of ease for ganseys. While that might be great in an adult's sweater, I've found that kids need a lot more ease for comfort and mobility--even with the cool underarm gussets. William has a 24" chest, and 8" of ease doesn't seem crazy big, but it still allows room to grow for next year. The sleeves are shorter, since he's only 5, not 10-12 years old.

This was an entirely lovely project, and we both appreciate the end result. See? Is that a modified Rachael? Ganseys for everyone!


Love,
Eyeknit

Guess who came to visit this weekend?

Dear Stuntmother,

My Mom's birthday is next week, and I gave her these Anemoi Mittens which should match her burgundy winter coat. Eunny is such a detail-oriented pattern writer. I appreciate that so much--she clearly has thought (obsessed) about each step of the knitting and chosen wisely so that the finished item is just beautiful. Specifically in these, the purl gutter in the pseud0-corrugated rib cuffs and the purl ditch along each edge are lovely. Using the three-needle bind off inside-out also gives you a purl-like tip which blends with the whole so nicely. I'd follow Eunny anywhere.



Pattern: Anemoi Mittens by Eunny Jang

Yarn: Louet Sales GEMS Pearl (fingering), in black and burgundy. The whole pair was made with one 50 g skein of each color, and there's lots left over. You could probably make three pairs of mittens from 200 g of yarn. (Since we sock knitters usually buy 100g of each color at a time). I do love this yarn...the stitches are so teeny and perfect. Seriously. Click on the photo above if you don't believe me.

Needles: KnitPicks Harmony 2.75 mm (smaller US #2) for the whole thing, Magic Loop.

Notes: Two checkerboardy thumbs up! If you haven't made these yet, you really must. Granted, the Italian tubular cast on was a pain, but I got it to work. I had tried it in a past project, but I really didn't understand the path of the yarn. That time, I had to move on to the standard tubular cast on in which you knit a few rows, then pick up the purl bumps and join it into the tube. I think that latter, futzy one actually looks a bit better than the Italian one, but it's a nifty trick...and I always like learning new knitting tricks.

So, what do you do when someone is so appreciative of handknits? Haul out an old and previously-unblogged handknit and give it away!


Project: Summer Shawlette, by Sandi Wiseheart


Yarn: My own handspun! From merino from Ashland Bay, and I'm sorry to say I've lost the yarn's specs. It's kind of a light worsted 2-ply, fairly woolen and fluffy. It's one of the first yarns I made on my wheel. The colors are lovely, soft and heathery.

Needles: US #10

Comments: I made this for myself, and the pattern is clever. I hate wearing triangular shawls, because I'm always redraping them and they seem too dramatic somehow for my plain, conservative look. The shoulder shaping on this one really works to keep it stable without futzing. I think it would be a good little garment for when you have on a summer dress, but the AC gets too draughty...

However, I have really broad shoulders. The spines which should fall over the line of the shoulder/arms lie too far back on me, and the front points don't hang down as far as they should.
It turns out that my Mom looks great in this shawlette! It's great when the right handknit finds the right recipient.

Love,
Eyeknit

2nd Annual Birthday Sweater for DH

Dear Stuntmother,

So, my husband's 41st birthday has come and gone, but I did complete his gift in time. In record time, I might emphasize, since this one was knitted from start to finish in 26 days. It took him much longer to choose a sweater he liked than it did for the knitting. I'm good with deadlines.

Project: Man's Fair Isle Sweater (original name, huh?) by Wendy Baker, from Scottish Highland Knits (also called Scottish Inspirations) 42.5" size.

Yarn: exactly what the pattern called for...Rowan Scottish Tweed DK, in 3 shades of grey. The requirement of 12 balls of the main color and 1 each of the lighter and darker ones was accurate. All yarn except 1 ball bought from WEBS, and the odd ball from Kathy's Kreations in Ligonier, PA.

Gauge: 22 sts and 30 rows in 4"

Needles: KnitPicks Harmony US #4 for the ribbing and US #5 for everything else.

Modifications:
The pattern calls for this to be knit in pieces (front, back and 2 sleeves). That would mean a stranded fabric worked back and forth; but I can't purl Continental-style. My two-handed knitting is even and quick, though. So, I re-wrote the pattern to be knit in the round and steeked, just like my previous (more traditional) fair isle sweaters.

So, I began by subtracting the 4 seam stitches, and casting on the whole shebang. I did the baby cable ribbing and the stockinette body in a tube. I had to take careful note of row gauge in the stranded section of my swatch, to figure out the placement of the yoke, as well as the front and back neck shaping. When it came time for the beginning of the armscyes, I put 10 stitches on waste yarn, and cast on 10 steek stitches on either side. When it was time for the pattern, I did it just as in the book. The front and back neck shaping were also achieved by casting on steeks, and I didn't change the contours at all. The only thing that differs in my finished sweater from the original is that I couldn't figure out a way to short-row slope the shoulders in the round. I just left them flat, and did a 3 needle bind off to seam the shoulders.

I cut the neck steeks, and picked up the correct number of stitches for the collar, and knit it in the round. One of my best mods was to use one of EZ's lesser-known sewn bind-offs. (Not the stretchy sewn bind-off, which we all use for toe-up socks) This one is "casting on casting off", and you use the yarn on a tapestry needle, and work from left to right on your piece. You slip off the two leftmost stitches, and go through them purlwise from right to left, then slip off the next stitch and go through it and the one to its left again, purlwise. Each stitch gets two passes with the needle, and the amazing thing about it is that it replicates the long tail cast on! No more bulk and chainy edges, if you don't want them. It does take a while and it's kind of a pain, but I think my collar and cuffs look much nicer this way. Look at the photo below of the back.

When it was time for the sleeves. First, I dropped down the center live stitch held when the steek was begun. I worked it back up with a crochet hook, hooking one then two ladder rungs all the way up, forming EZ's phony seams. (Which I love. You can kind of sense them in this photo).
Then, the armhole steeks were cut, sleeve stitches picked up, and the sleeves knit from the top down. All the steeks were trimmed to 2 stitches, the cut edge tucked under, and hand stitched down to the underlying fabric inside. All the steeks were completely unreinforced, since my swatch behaved very well when cut up the middle. The only one that gave me any worry was the back neck one. It was only about 5 rounds deep, and that's not enough to really stabilize the fabric bridge. Next time, if the yarn is heavier than a fingering weight, I'd make a very short steek wider, like 14 stitches. It turned out fine, though. No disasters.

I was very nervous about the re-write, but it worked just as I had hoped. After blocking it a second time to grow longer sleeves, it fits him perfectly.

The fabric bloomed with blocking, and is lovely and tweedy and supple. I think this is a really nice men's sweater--handsome without being truly boring. I predict that this yarn will hold up ruggedly.

Next year, if he wants a birthday sweater I need to start a little earlier. I love you, Honey, but my wrists were killing me.

Love,
Eyeknit