Peaceful Knitter

Do remember last week when I tried to knit while standing out in the hypothermia-inducing cold in Washington D.C.?  After trying to knit and failing to complete even one row, I begrudgingly put the project away.  Driving home the next day, however, provided much more favorable knitting conditions and I was able to make good progress.

A friend of mine just had a baby boy last month, and I knew immediately that I wanted to knit something sweet and tiny for him.  I love to make baby things, so I need very little incentive to do so.  This worked out especially well because I had a leftover skein of Knit Picks Felici from the Pom Pom socks; its color, texture, and machine washability meant it was perfect for this project.

When lacking an actual baby to model your knits, paper towels are extremely handy!

• Pattern: Magic Carpet Hat as improvised by Me.

• Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Atmosphere, approximately 105 yards

• Needles: US size 4 12-inch circulars

I cast on an odd number of stitches, did one inch of 1×1 ribbing, then knit until the stripe repeats looked good and another mother in my knitting group said it looked big enough.  The nice thing about baby hats is that if you make them a little large, the babe’s head will surely grow into it.  I then did a 3-needle bind off to give the hat a square shape since I planned to attach pom poms or tassels to the corners.

Have you ever made tassels before?  I hadn’t, but somewhere in the depths of my mind I remembered seeing a diagram or reading about it once.  So I just winged it, setting out on a Macguiver-like adventure with my yarn, scissors, a memo pad, and a tapestry needle.  They turned out pretty well, I think, and they are darn cute.  If you’d like to make tassels but need some inspiration, check this out from Techknitter.

When I paraded the hat in front of Sweetie hoping for praise, I got confusion instead.  “It looks like half a magic carpet.  What is it?”  “It’s a baby hat, isn’t it cute?” I said.  “Oh, I see.  Yeah, that’s great.”  Sweetie was thoroughly unimpressed.  Could it be that she is growing immune to my knitterly powers?  Is she saturated with custom hand-knits?  Fortunately my friend received the hat with more enthusiasm!

Hmmm…I suppose it does kind of look like half of a magic carpet after all…

The first shipment from the Rockin’ Sock Club has arrived.  And it is preeetty…

For those of you who don’t want the surprise ruined, please accept the following photo as a buffer.  It was taken over the weekend when Big Martha and I took a romp through the snow by a nearby lake.  I had to stop her from running out on the frozen water to get to the ducks and geese.  That could have been catastrophic indeed!

That's snow over ice over water. Yikes!

Okay, now on to the good stuff: the yarn!

Are you sure you want to know?

Alright, then.

May I present My Blue Heaven from Blue Moon Fiber Arts:

With beads!

I was thoroughly pleased with my first installment.  This is my first time participating in a yarn club of any kind, and I have to admit I had some reservations.  What if I didn’t care for the colorway or the pattern?  At the same time, what if I did?

The best thing happened with this shipment: I like the color and the pattern.  Typically when choosing sock patterns I go for something that doesn’t have too many new elements.  I like to be challenged, but not too much at one time.  This pattern, by Syvia Harding, offers a few new challenges for me: a tubular cast on and knitting with beads.  Had I been left to my own devices, I may not have chosen this pattern because of those two elements.

By participating in a sock club where I have no control over the patterns, I will be making myself face these uncertainties head on.  Fortunately, we will have each other’s support via Ravelry and the RSC blog along the way.

I was so excited to get started that I cast on as quickly as time and other plans would allow.  The tubular cast on is nothing at all to be intimidated about, as I discovered after reading this and watching this. It’s simply an invisible cast on to give you a neater, more flexible edge. This pattern employs a slightly different method, but just trust the instructions and you will end up with a sock cuff.

And as for the beads, well, they caused me a few minutes of frustration, but then I got into a rhythm.  I tried using a needle, but the beads didn’t want to go over the needle and the yarn at the same time.  In the end, I simply used waxed dental floss folded in half over a length of the yarn as a “needle” to thread the beads onto the skein.  Pretty easy, except for the risk of dropping beads onto the floor.  I’m still searching for a couple of them…

I’ve got it baaad.

The sock jitters, that is.  My hands are shaking with the desire to knit a new pair of socks with sumptuous sock yarn.  I keep coming across new sock yarn, great new patterns, and feeling an overwhelming sense of excitement and desire to cast on immediately.  And yet, I don’t.  I feel I can’t, actually.  And why not?

Well, the answer is two fold: for one, I have a sock project on the needles.  Last week I finished sock #1 of Waving Lace Socks.

Waving Lace socks from Favorite Socks

It was a great pattern to knit, I love the yarn, and both together made me a very happy knitter.  But I couldn’t cast on for the second sock right away.  The dreaded SSS strikes again!

My goal was to finish this pair of socks before I started something new and exciting.  Something that should be arriving in the mail any day now from Blue Moon Fiber Arts…

That brings me to my second reason for not starting anything new: I’m waiting to receive my first ever shipment from the BMFA Rockin’ Sock Club!  How could I, in good conscience, cast on for any other sock pattern, no matter how compelling, when I know this is in my immediate future?

I have been sorely tempted, to be sure.  There was the gift I received from my sister, the lovely new book, Knitting Socks with Hand Painted Yarn.  Then, I won a blogiversary contest over on Liz’s blog, which meant I was the lucky recipient of this lovely  hand dyed sock yarn.

Tiny Toes by Interlacements

I am trying to wait patiently for my sock club shipment to arrive.  I have been trying to work diligently on projects I already have started.  That hasn’t entirely worked either.  I cast on 2 new (small) projects last week, and one is already finished.  I needed to finish something while I waited, even if it wasn’t the mate to a lone bubble gum pink sock!

Well, I should go check the mailbox, Ravelry, and the RSC blog to see if anyone has gotten their yarn yet.  Maybe it will be me…toes crossed!

I improvised the pattern for this hat based on the instructions in Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  To get started, you knit a swatch and check your gauge.  I know, this isn’t something that we all love, but if you’re making it up as you go, swatching works.  I got 5 stitches per inch and wanted it to fit a 21-inch head.  You multiply those numbers to get the number of stitches to cast on (105).

I wanted to do a k2 p2 rib to start, so rounded up to the next even number and cast on 106 stitches.  I knit for a couple of inches and the hat was coming out HUGE–fabric is really stretchy.   So I ripped it out and cast on less stitches for a snugger fit. This is why you, too, should knit a gauge swatch with your yarn and needles!

Obama-rama Hat

(as improvised by Peaceful Knitter–this is just how I remember doing my hat and is not meant to be perfect.)

• Yarn: GGH Tara, approx 110 yards in blue (MC), 10 yards in white (CC) and cotton scraps in red, white and blue

• Needles: US size 7 16-inch circular needles

CO 100 stitches

K2 P2 for 1.5 inches, or until desired length of ribbing is achieved.

Knit in stockinette stitch for 2 inches.

Join CC and knit stripe in SS for 1 inch.

Join MC and knit in SS for 2 inches, or until hat is 1/2-inch less that desired size.

Decrease row 1:  K2tog, k1 around

Decrease row 2:  K

Rep these 2 rows until 8 stitches remain.  Break yarn and thread onto a tapestry needle.  Thread the needle through the live stitches and pull through.  Put needle through to wrong side and weave in the end to secure.

Duplicate stitch motif

I used this chart from Just Jenean to duplicate stitch the Obama logo onto the front of the hat. Try to center the logo so that you have a row of MC above and below.

This was my first time trying out this technique.  I had expected it to be somewhat faster and less fiddly than knitting the motif into the hat.  It probably could be for someone who was more familiar with the ways of the duplicate stitch, but for me…well, let’s just say I was putting the finishing touches on it in bed on Monday night.  it’s tricky getting the tension of the stitches just right so that the yarn beneath doesn’t show through.  The upside is that there is no puckering or pulling in of stitches around the design.

Have you tried duplicate stitch?  If so, are there any tips or tricks you’d like to share?

What a whirlwind of a week–I can hardly believe it’s Thursday already!  It seems like just yesterday Sweetie and I were making the drive down to Maryland to participate in the Inauguration day festivities.  We were excited that the change we so desperately need was finally happening; nervous there would be major delays and trampling crowds; uncertain of what to expect on Tuesday.  But we never wavered in our desire to be a part of this historic moment in our nation’s collective memory.

By the time 6 am rolled around on Tuesday, we were tiredly enthusiastic.  We made it to the train station in time to catch a fairly empty train and even got seats!  I definitely felt like we were getting away with something at this point, particularly later that day when I heard about hour-long delays at some stations. It was another lucky moment to find a Starbucks immediately after existing the station; the need for caffeine definitely outweighed the fear of overflowing Port-a- potties later in the day!

Walking to the Mall, SBux in hand

Our plan from the beginning was to be as far away from The Crazy as possible.  This meant deliberately avoiding those areas closest to the Capitol and ticketed areas.  We started at the Lincoln Memorial just as the sun was coming up.

As you can see, there was no danger in losing our spot in history to throngs of spectators at this point.  We decided to spend some time taking in the monuments in the area: Lincoln, the Vietnam War memorial, and the World War II memorial.

By about 8:30 am things were picking up, and we decided to scope out a spot where we could see one of the jumbo-trons along the mall.  Fortunately, there were some excellent spots just outside of the WWII memorial where we could sit or stand and be above the people in front of us. 

I will take this moment to mention that it is not cool to stand or sit on the monument itself, as plenty of people tried to do.  Police and park rangers were diligent about keeping people off for the first few hours, but got tired of it later in the morning.  The eventually filled up the fountain directly in front of us, causing people to have to get off the monument and subsequently increasing our real estate tenfold.  We now had water front property with unobstructed views!

During our wait, we did some yoga, took turns going on small walks around the area, and jumped around with strangers to get the feeling back in our toes.  I even tried to knit a little.  Turns out it is very difficult to knit with gloves on, and even more challenging to knit without them in 18 degree weather.

It was frigid out there.  I heard cute words one the news later, words like “chilly” and “breezy” and “bearable”.  Actually, it was so cold people were being treated for hypothermia!  It’s one thing to walk around in those kinds of temperatures, but standing still for hours on end gets painful fast.  My muscles are still sore from being so tense from shivering!

We were both bundled in multiple layers from head to toe.  Hand knits were a popular sight on the mall as well.  Sweetie was sporting her new Obama hat, and I saw plenty of other people in hand-knit hats, scarves, and my favorite, Noro mittens.  Incidentally, I also saw a couple of people wearing leg warmers…but that’s another subject altogether!

As we waited in the frigid temperatures, more and more people started filling in around us.  By the time the Inauguration started, it was packed.

The positive energy was palpable all around us.  There were no negative reactions to images of G.W. Bush or Dick Cheney.  I have to admit, I was expecting a light scattering of boos, but nothing like that came from the crowds around us.  The day was about hope and change and new beginnings, and no one wanted to taint that with old sentiments of distrust and anger.

Tears, cheers, laughter, and clapping erupted when we caught sight of the new president.  I could hardly believe that after all these months of campaign coverage and political debate, the time had finally come.  I feel hopeful that a new era truly is beginning, one in which America is again the leader in global conduct, accountability, and positive change.  And it doesn’t hurt that we’ve got one cute first family supporting the man who has reinvigorated our country with hope and the promise of a new beginning.

I think 2009 is off to a fantastic start!

**All photos in this post are courtesy of Sweetie, as my camera batteries died early in the day.  I did take the photo of the Obama-rama hat, details of which will follow shortly.**

We are off to join in the Inauguration fun in Washington D.C.  This is an exciting opportunity to participate in history, and we simply couldn’t pass it up.

Of course, there will be some knitting to help celebrate.  You can find the chart here and set to work on your own patriotic knits.

“Yes we can!”

Speaking of hand-knit gifts, I neglected to mention that back in December I was the lucky recipient of a sweater.  This is a piece I saw grow at Stitch ‘n Bitch, a sweater that I petted and admired throughout its construction.  Then one day, Pixisis asked if I would model it for some photos on her Ravelry page.  Never one to shy away from a photo opportunity, I agreed.  After our shoot, she decided that it looked right on me and gifted it to me then and there.  I protested mildly, but inside I was thrilled.  Knitters are a generous bunch, aren’t we?

Yesterday, as The Big Chill hit us in full force, I knew exactly what I had to wear to keep warm: alpaca…hand knit alpaca.

This is the Gathered Pullover from IK Winter 07 in Burgis Brook Alpaca, Ravelled here.

If you didn’t know otherwise, you would think this sweater was made for me. It fits me in all the right places and happens to be in a beautiful shade of my favorite color.  Thanks again, Pixisis!

I hope you are staying warm this weekend.  Or cool, as the case may be for those of you experiencing summer right now!  Either way, have a great weekend.

A trip to Idaho also meant that I got to exchange holiday gifts with my family.  My sister and I each knit something for the other, and now that she has received her gift I can write openly about what a pain in the neck it was.  But first, her gift to me:

Remember when V was first learning to knit?  She was immediately a fearless knitter, and her transition into knitting in the round without a pattern has impressed me to no end.  I am proud to be the recipient of such fine handiwork, and have been wearing this hat daily.  It’s doing a fine job of keeping the wind out of my ears on my daily dog walks.  Did you know hand knit hats were so effective at that?  Really, I should knit some more.

Before Christmas, I decided that I wanted to knit V a garment of some sort.  Time was running short by the time I was actually ready to get started, so I decided to knit something based on what I already had in my stash.  This may have been my first mistake.  You see, I do not really keep large quantities of a single color or type of yarn in my stash.  So you would think that if I were intending to make a garment, I would have considered that fact and gone yarn shopping.  But no.  I thought I knew better.

When contemplating what to knit, I thought back to the summer when I knit up a little shrug for myself.  I remembered my sister admiring it.  I had a skein of Malabrigo in Cuarzo, a lovely variegated purple, one of her favorite colors.  That’s it: knit her a shrug like mine!

I loosely of followed the pattern for the Cropped Raglan Sweater (available free here), casting on 90 stitches on size 9 needles.  I followed the recipe for the increases, knitting until the sleeves seemed “long enough”.  Very precise, I know.  Then I put them on waste yarn and started knitting the body of the shrug.  This went along fine for a bit, until I noticed that my ball of yarn had diminished significantly.

Uh-oh.

The sweater was only about 2 inches long from the underarm, and I knew I wanted it to have a little more substance than that.  I Estimated the amount of yarn I had left, leaving me with the certain knowledge that I would not have enough to make this a reasonable shrug.  Remaining stubborn about buying yarn, I searched the stash for a comparable yarn that I could use to accent the ribbing on the hem and cuffs.  After trying different color combinations, I decided to go with some Paton’s Jet in color 203, a close match to the pink hues in the Malabrigo.

I knit on the body until I was very nearly out of yarn.  Then I switched to the contrasting color and knit a ribbed band.  The colors seem to work well together, but where the real rub comes is the difference in texture between Malabrigo and the Jet.  One is like marshmallows, the other granola.  Both are good individually, but together they only seem to take away from each other.  In any case, it was still a wee shrug.

So I blocked the hell out of it!  It only grew about an inch at most in any one direction.  And when I tried it on, my denial was no longer able to convince me of success.  Sure, I had a finished object, but at what cost?

I like to wear a funky piece of clothing now and then, but I just couldn’t see how this was going to fit into my sister’s wardrobe.  I decided to give it to her anyway, letting her decide what to do with it.  Perhaps there’s a small child she knows.  Or, if she loved the yarn, I could help her take it apart and rewind it into a ball.  Anything to have it off my hands.

V received the shrug-ette with grace and said she liked it.  Of course, she never tried it on in front of a camera…

These disappointments are bound to happen from time to time.  They occur as a way of challenging us to listen to our knitter’s intuition.  There were several points where I knew I was not going to be satisfied with the end result, and yet I knit on.  I spent time knitting something I wasn’t proud of, time I could have put to better use.  How often do we do this in other aspects of our lives, I wonder?

Well, I’m happy to report that no travel plans were thwarted by bad weather or airline mishaps.  I made it safely to and from Idaho.  As usual, I was in awe of the vast openness that is the West, with seemingly endless expanses of land and sky.

This is a view of the Snake River Canyon from Bliss, Idaho.  This is what it looks like where I grew up, and only after leaving it and living in a land of trees and tall buildings cans I truly appreciate all that open space.

Outside Mountain Home, ID

I had a lot of quality time with my family, and in a strange turn of events, I didn’t feel like knitting all that much.  The most knitting I accomplished was on the flights back and forth across the country.  Pointy needles and an iPod do wonders for maintaining sanity and a safe distance from strangers while travelling.

On New Year’s Day I cast on the Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark in Favorite Socks.  I am using the absurdly cheerful Holiday Yarns in Bubble Gum that I purchased at Rhinebeck back in October.  As some of you noted in the comments on my last post, this is just the cheerful, optimistic type of yarn to get this new year started.

I knit on it a little bit last week, but again, made the most progress on my flights home.  There’s something about listening to back episodes of Cast-On while sipping a Fresca and knitting pink socks that really helps the whole experience fly by (pun intended, as they all should be).

I have been experiencing an inconsistency with my yarn overs.  Can you spot it?  The first repeat has a yarn over right after a purl stitch, followed by knit stitches.  This creates a small, neat looking yarn over.  The second repeat of lace is a yarn over just before a purl stitch.  To do this, I bring the yarn forward, around the needle, and back to the front before purling.  This leaves more yarn for the yo stitch, and creates a bigger, less neat looking hole.  I’ve played around with different ways of doing both types of yarn over to achieve more similarity and continuity throughout the sock, to no avail.  Do you have any tips or suggestions?  I’ll probably just keep doing it the way I have been for the rest of this sock and its mate for continuity reasons, but I would love to know a different way of doing things.

And, because I’m a sucker for cats and I just met my sister’s 2 cats for the first time:

Poncho

Chloe

Aren’t they pretty kitties?  I knew I had a problem when I started showing Sweetie the pictures from my trip and there were more pictures of cats than anything else.  Those of you with cats know that they’re hard to photograph, right?  I had to work for these shots!

The last pair of socks I knit for myself were Hedera in a lovely skein of Araucania Ranco Multi sock yarn.  I gushed about the colors reminding me of tie-dye, and how much affection I felt for the yarn in general.  It knit up beautifully, and I enjoyed wearing the finished socks very much.

Before

But slowly, every so subtly, they started to change.  To get a little bit fuzzy.  I try to combat the inevitable fuzziness of handknit socks in two ways: I always buy superwash or washable sock yarn, and wash my socks inside out in cold water and lay flat to dry.  This has worked wonderfully to prolong the life of all my other handknit socks.  But something was awry with my Arucania socks.  I started to doubt whether or not the yarn was in fact washable and looked at the label of a second skein I have hanging out in the stash.  Yup, it says it’s washable, lay flat to dry.  So why do my favorite socks look like this?

Felted socks.

At first I tried to pretend this wasn’t happening, and I would dutifully stretch them out as much as possible before putting them on my feet.  I’m not going to lie: they didn’t fit well at all, nor were they comfortable.  But I was in denial for quite a while.  Somehow I’ve come to terms with reality and have retired these beauties from my sock drawer.  Any suggestions for alternate uses?

And on to the new…Happy 2009!  I am determined this will be a wonderful year, aren’t you?  To help get myself off on the right foot, I cast on a new pair of socks this morning.  For this pair I am using Holidays yarn in ‘bubble gum’ and following the Waving Lace socks pattern from Favorite Socks.  Here is the pretty little scalloped cuff:

Here’s to a wonderful year full of lots of great knitting, friends, and new adventures!

See you in about 10 days, assuming I actually get to leave the airport this time…