Peaceful Knitter

This recommendation from the Yarn Harlot could not have come at a better time.  Actually it could have come a few days sooner, I suppose.  Like last Wednesday, the day before I discovered my craft drawers had been seeing some mouse activity.

I am fortunate enough to have a craft room to call my own.  It is a sweet room, with a dormer window that allows for a built in window seat.  This is where I have my swift and ball winder set up on permanent display.  Cut out of the wall next to the yarn winding station is a charming set of 4 drawers that slide right out of the wall. When setting up the room, I had fun putting away my knitting notions, button tins, and finished objects that had no home in these drawers.

Over the weekend I was attempting to tidy this room up a bit when, upon opening the knitting needle drawer, I discovered this:

That’s my gorgeous silk Lantern Moon needle case, home to all of my straight knitting needles.  And Someone decided it looked like a good snack, or building material, or stuffing for a tiny bed in the attic.  Someone was very sneaky and didn’t even arouse the suspicion of either feline in residence.  I need to have a talk with those cats.

Further inspection of the drawers revealed a few minuscule mouse turds, and a hole from the attic space into the framing of the drawers.  Sigh.  I immediately tossed my stash of FOs onto the floor, as well as anything else I thought the mice might find delicious or comfortable as bedding.

Fortunately, I had kept these items in sealed plastic bags and there does not appear to be any damage.  But seeing it there, all piled up on the floor, made me sort of sad.  I did not knit these things so they could languish in a dark, mouse-infested drawer!

So I set about doing something I have never done: I picked out the items I knew  a) would never find a home because they were ill-fitting or poorly finished, or b) I loved the yarn and could re-use it in a new project.

In all, I have frogged 3 projects so far:

• Pattern:  Shrug This, original details here

• Yarn: Araucania Pomaire Multy in color 4

This was just a bit too small around the arms, and after wearing it a couple of times the stitches in the underarm were stretched out and looking a little shabby.  Since I had about 3/4 a skein of the yarn leftover, I think I could remake the same pattern a little larger.

• Pattern:  Morning Surf Scarf, original details here

• Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Marble

I loved this yarn and pattern together.  The dropped stitch “lace” was fun to create, and the payoff looked more complicated than it actually was.  And even though I originally cast on fewer stitches than the pattern called for, it was always a little to short to be a satisfying scarf.  Now I have a skein of beautiful sock yarn back in my stash that could become anything!

The final project was a neckwarmer in a fantastic hot pink shade of Malabrigo.  It seems I was dissatisfied enough with it from the beginning, because I have no photo of the finished object to reference!  But you can imagine it now looks more like this:

The one on the left, or course.

If you have any FOs or works in progress that have been languishing in knitting purgatory, I urge you to set them (and yourself) free!

This frogging of finished objects exercise was surprisingly satisfying.  I no longer have to convince myself that I will wear something or find someone to gift it to.  I have yarn I love back in my stash, ready for me when I have the urge to knit with it again.  Now I think I’ll go see what else I can frog.  I know there’s some perfectly good Malabrigo going to waste…

I love playing in the dirt.  Digging holes, planting seeds, pulling weeds, it’s all fun to me.  We bought a new house last spring, and I had a great time planting things in our yard and side garden.  I learned a couple of hard lessons about the harshness of full sun exposure, but I think I’ve got the major kinks worked out now.

That said, I was a miserable failure at planting fall bulbs.  I went out and bought them, sure.  There was even a color scheme and everything–red, yellow, and purple tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth.  I just never got around to planting them at the ideal time.  So when I was reorganizing the storage table in my garage a few weeks ago, I was saddened to find the paper bag I had brought them home in.  There they were, patiently waiting to be put to earth, sun, and water so that they could do their little bulb jobs and grow.  About 75% of the bulbs had sprouts, and since the weather seemed to be evening out a bit I took a gamble and planted them.

I know, I know.  March is not the ideal time to plant bulbs.  Heck, I already had some daffodils coming up out of the soil!  But with a little bit of hope and a gambling spirit, I planted those babies and sat back to see if anything happened.

The hyacinths seem to be struggling to get their bearings as they bloom while still coming up out of the earth.  Other than that, everything I planted seems to be thriving!  And thanks to the April showers and a weekend of warm, sunny weather the first flowers started blooming.

I also planted some perennial seeds in an incubator at the beginning of April.  Lavendar, echinacea, and coreopsis.  They seem to be thriving as well, and I am looking forward to transplanting them to larger containers soon.  For now they’re still babies and need to stay in the nursery!

We also splurged this weekend and purchased a new deck lounger with a lovely pear green cushion.  I can see myself relaxing outside with my knitting and a cool drink nearby.  Of course, I might have to fight Maxwell for it; he’s barely moved since we set it up!

Knitting for new babies is one of my favorite things.  I have been convinced for some time that just about anything is cuter when made in miniature, and I know this is true for baby clothes and accessories.

Not only are baby knits cute, they are quick to knit and don’t use up very much yarn.  Perfect for when you want the satisfaction of finishing something when your other projects seem to be taking forever…but that’s between me and my Hemlock Ring blanket!

Last week I was putting together a box to send to my sis for her baby shower.  I was sad to realize that some of my grand knitting plans for her baby had not yet come to fruition.  Instead of depriving her of a knit gift altogether (or making her wait until baby’s first Christmas for something woolly), I whipped up this cute little hat.

• Pattern: Baby Stuff by Melissa Dominguez, free Ravelry download

• Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Sockotta Sock Yarn Fair Isle Effect, approx. 80 yards

• Needles: US size 1/2.25mm Addi Turbo circular (Magic Loop)

• Mods: 1-inch i cord topper

This pattern was a fast, easy knit and I was finished in a couple of days.  I have knit other rolled brim baby hats before, but this one caught my eye because of the swirling eyelet pattern on the crown.  It also uses just a bit of sock yarn, so it’s a perfect way to use up some leftovers.  The pattern also comes with the instructions for little mitts which use even less yarn.

And because I love a baby hat with something sticking up off the top, I used the last few stitches to make an i-cord.

Overall this was a quick, satisfying project, and I can’t wait to see it on my nephew’s wee head in a few weeks!

Ishbel turned out to be one of those projects that was impossible to put down.  Once I cast on last Sunday, I was a knitting fiend, putting in some time on a row or pattern repeat whenever possible.  It must have been the perfect storm of yarn and pattern, because both were equally pleasing to work with.  Ysolda writes a wicked clear pattern that was a joy to follow, and the Madelinetosh sock yarn kept me smiling throughout.

• Pattern:  Ishbel by Ysolda Teague

• Yarn: Madelinetosh sock yarn in Lettuce Leaf, approximately 300 yards

• Needles: US size 6/4mm Addi Turbo Lace

• Mods: None.  I knit the size small as written.  See my notes on Ravelry.

When I finished binding off it seemed small.  I knew that it would grow during blocking, but I wasn’t sure it would be big enough to wind around and wear like a scarf.  The pre-blocking measurements were 13 x 35 inches (depth x wingspan).  I soaked it for a few minutes, then pressed it in a towel and pinned it out on my yoga mat.  The dimensions grew to 18.5 x 38.5 inches.  It’s still a bit skimpy as a scarf, but I am really enjoying it as my new spring accessory!

If I were to knit this again (as I am feeling wont to do) I would probably knit the large stockinette pattern with the small lace section, or vice versa.  First, I only used about 3/4 of the skein, and I loathe having that much yarn left over.  Secondly, it is just a little bit shy of wrapping around so that the ends dangle without sliding off over my shoulder.

I love this scarf and would totally marry it if I weren’t already spoken for!

This was my first lace shawl, and I couldn’t be happier with the experience.  In the past when I saw lace charts I would instantly feel intimidated.  But there was just something about this pattern that spoke to me and said: “Don’t be afraid.  You can do this!”.  Maybe it was that the pattern called for sock yarn and started out in stockinette.  Or that I knew what all the symbols meant and simply needed to pay a little bit of attention every other row.  Most likely I’m just a more experienced and less fearful knitter than I once was, especially when it comes to lace.  Now I’m looking at some of my sock yarn with a certain lace lust that wasn’t there before…

Now that it’s off the needles I can admit this out loud without ramifications: when it came to the lace section, I didn’t count stitches or use life lines!!!  ‘Cause I like to live on the edge like that.

Over a river and through the woods to Burgis Brook Alpacas we go:

This weekend some of my knitting friends and I ventured out to a local alpaca farm to ooh and aah over the cuteness that is an alpaca.  They were in their full fleeces, just a month or so away from getting shorn.  This means there were plenty of fluffy faces to fondle and take portraits of!

Baby Goldrush

Some interesting, fun, and sometimes odd facts about alpaca:

• They are native to South America and are related to camels and llamas.

• They have no top front teeth.  Their teeth grow throughout their lives, getting filed down naturally as they eat and forage.

• They defecate in a collective area, keeping the rest of their pen/pasture clean.

• Gestation is 11.5 months and the mothers don’t eat the afterbirth.

• A baby alpaca is called a cria.

• Alpaca fiber has a smooth shaft and no lanolin.  There are over 20 different colors of alpacas!

At Burgis Brook, the alpacas are clearly well loved and cared for.  They all have names, and the owners can tell them apart immediately.  Even all the white ones, which for the most part looked the same to me!

I think we were all a little shy at first, stepping around the alpacas, slyly sticking a hand out for them to sniff.  They seemed to be just as interested in us, and soon we were two herds of disparate animals curiously checking each other out.  By the end of our visit we were completely comingled with the gentle beasties having a great time!

The farm is very open to having visitors, so if you are passing through Connecticut it is definitely worth a stop.  They also sell their own alpaca yarn at the farm and at fiber festivals such as Rhinebeck.

If you’d like to see all my photos from the day, visit my flickr set here.

There’s sort of an informal round of fun fur show and tell going on among some of my favorite blogs.  It all started with Bells, then Sweet P, both of whom share objects knit in the very same “dead Muppet fur”.  I thought I could honestly say I have never touched the stuff, then I remembered a certain gift I received from my mother in law when I first started knitting.

She has been a generous supporter of my craft from the beginning, gifting me yarn and patterns regularly.  Recently she’s been giving me locally grown and spun yarns from her neck of the woods in Michigan, which is a lot of fun.  Such was not the case in the beginning, however.

It all started with a mysterious pattern for a knitted bag.  For Christmas I received a kit which included a photocopied pattern with handwritten notes on it and the yarns required: one skein of Patons Classic Merino, and a few yards of 3 types of fun fur bunched together.  Clearly someone at her LYS had been busy putting together these kits, which makes me think there may be more of these bags out there…

I was speechless.  Not only was the bag not my style, I just had no interest in making it!  As the months passed she would periodically ask if I had made it yet, so eventually I felt I needed to bite the needles and get it done.  At the time I was participating in some knitterly swaps over at swapbot and came across a handmade bag swap.  It seemed to be the perfect solution, and I could always tell my mother in law that I made it and gave it to a “friend.”

The instructions were mysterious at best, but I pieced together a reasonable facsimile and came up with this.

In a surprising turn of events, it was a fun project to knit, and I learned some new skills.  At that point in my knitting career I had never felted anything, made a bag, or used novelty yarn, so it was satisfying in that regard. I also learned that when you hold a strand of wool together with a strand of fur, they felt together well.  Not something I’ve used since, but still a good bit of information to have.

In the end it was nice that I got to share the photo with my MIL, thus satisfying her curiosity.  It was also satisfying to me to send it off to someone who ended up liking it.  Everyone wins!

What interesting yarns do you have lurking in your knitting or crochet past?  Have you made or received a project that makes you wonder “What was I thinking?”  I’d love to hear about them, and if you’re moved to share photos on your blog I will definitely be there to point and laugh commiserate.

Warning: Once you start knitting Ishbel, you may find it impossible to stop.

Other activities such as sleeping, eating, or self grooming may tempt you into putting down the needles, but you will not be able to be gone long.  Ishbel will lure you back with her sexy yarn overs and fast paced lace charts.

I cast on Sunday afternoon, and by Tuesday had finished the first lace repeat.  I took Wednesday off from compulsively knitting, and am now working on the last chart.  It could be done this weekend…

May you be blessed with the same excitement over one of your projects this weekend!

It was a good weekend for starting and making good progress on new projects.  I love the feeling of excitement when I get interested in a new pattern.  I start dreaming about knitting it, stalking finished objects on Ravelry, imagining what yarns I could make it in…

Sometimes this process is satisfying enough that I already feel like I have knit the pattern.  More often than not, however, it only creates a need to knit it immediately, no matter what else I already have on the needles.

Such was the case for the past week with Ishbel, the lovely new shawl from Ysolda Teague.  I love much of her work, but have never actually knit one of her designs.  Yesterday, after days of dreaming and planning, I finally purchased the pattern (okay, I got the ebook and the hard copy…Easter present?).  I immediately wound up a skein of Madelinetosh sock yarn in Lettuce Leaf, a bright acidic green perfect for spring knitting.

I thought I could wait to cast on, but decided about to do so about 1/2 an hour before going to my Sunday afternoon knitting group.  And after a few hours of knitting, I have finished the stockinette section:

Ishbel is my first shawl, so it’s fun to watch it grow from a tiny 3-stitch cast on to something resembling a shawl.  Now I’m gathering my wits to get started with the charted lace pattern.  I’m not exactly a novice in this department, but still green enough to have some reservations.  Thank goodness for the help of those who have gone before me!

On Saturday (pre-Ishbel frenzy) I sat down with my Hemlock Ring blanket.  I started this a week or two ago, but didn’t get very far.  It requires a bit of focus, and I just wasn’t in that sort of mood.  I knit a stockinette sock instead, much more my speed at the time.  But on Saturday the mood struck, and I made a few inches of progress.  It’s so fun!

This should be an interesting project to watch change and grow. I have 4 balls of Malabrigo yarn to devote to it, and will cast off when I’m about out of yarn.  It’s only once the whole thing is off the needles that I will know exactly how big it has gotten.

So, that’s what I’ve got on the needles at this moment.  Something about the sunshine, blooming flowers, and feeling like a fresh start has me wanting to cast on about 87,000 new projects!

I was inspired by Mooncalf’s Picture Saturday, and wanted to share some photos I took this week.  They don’t really fit in elsewhere, so why not feature them in  their own post?

The first are of Big Martha.  She found a patch of sunlight and enjoyed it to its fullest.

She always has an eye on me…

I’m also happy to report that my orchids are blooming!  Thanks to the green thumb advice of Liz, I turned a few stems into this:

And this:

All I did was add a little powdered orchid food to the water each week.  It turned happy plants into ecstatic plants! If you like orchids as much as I do, check out Lolly’s post about her recent trip to the US Botanical Gardens production greenhouse.

My Christmas cactus is also blooming.  It has never bloomed in the 4 or 5 years since it got started from a cutting, and now it’s on its second bloom in 6 months!  Hopefully this means I have a green thumb.  I was beginning to doubt it after the miserable cucumber crop of ‘08: I grew beautiful plants that didn’t produce any cucumbers!

There wasn’t much sun outside this week, but I tried to capture as much of the stuff as possible inside.  Spring is being stubborn around here.  The daffodils are in bloom, but other things can’t really seem to get a start yet for all the clouds and rain.  Patience is a virtue, yes, but it’s hard to hold on to after a long and snowy winter.

I hope the sun is out today in your corner of the world!

It was my goal to finish up the sleeves of this sweater during the driving portion of our recent trip.  There were about 10-12 hours in the car each way.  Fortunately Sweetie likes to do the bulk of the driving, so there was a lot of time to sit back and knit.  I finished the first sleeve on the way down, and the second on the way home!

• Pattern: Baby Cables and Big Ones Too by Suvi S. (ravelled here) Started December 20, 2008 Finished March 23, 2009

• Size: 37 (medium), about 2 inches of positive ease

• Yarn: Valley Yarns Stockbridge (50/50 wool alpaca) in Light Grey. 10 skeins/1,090 yards

• Needles: US 6/4 mm

• Mods: I omitted the cables on the arms.  This was something that I really liked about this sweater when I first saw it, but I was ready to get this off the needles.  Instead, I knit it plain and finished the cuffs with garter stitch to match the hem.  I also only did 9 decreases on the arms instead of 10.

The garter stitch yoke is so big and stretchy that I could have easily gone down a needle size.  It didn’t seem so big until after I blocked it.  Then those ridges opened up and it grew.  The portion at the top of the arms feels particularly bulky.  I’m also not completely satisfied with the arms.  Seeing how it ended up, I would have liked to do more decreases at the top of the arm making it a little bit closer fitting.  As it is now, there’s quite a bit of bulk under the arms.  It feels like I have bat wings when I hold my arms out to the side!

Aside from those 2 areas, I am pleased with the fit of the body.  It was a seamless top-down sweater, so I was able to adjust the body as I went along.  No such luck for the sleeves; it’s hard to try on a sweater in a moving car and decide if the arms are fitting well or not!

Now that I’m thinking about it, I could have knit the yoke and arms in size small and the body in size medium.  Would that solve these issues?

Overall I am satisfied that this sweater is finished and wearable.  It was only my second sweater, and each time I have learned so much.  I am figuring out what to look for in a pattern that will suit my body and knitting style.  Both sweaters have ended up with ill-fitting arms, so that’s something I need to pay attention to in the future.  In any case, I’m happy to be finished with this winter sweater just in time to see the daffodils bloom!

This sweater was in the works for a good 3 months.  If you’d like to read more about the process of knitting this sweater, check out these posts:

1. Getting Started: Sweater #2

2. Baby Steps

3. Reignigted

Now I’m off to think about what garment to knit next.  Ideally it will be something lightweight, perhaps a cardigan or cropped sweater of some sort.  Any suggestions?