Burnout

I've had major knitting burnout lately (and obviously blogger burnout, but more on that another time). I recently re-organized all my in-progress knitting projects, made a list, went and got a stiff drink when I needed to start a second page of paper for that list, and then did....nothing.  For weeks.  So after this little hiatus, what did I do to get my crafting juices going again?  Buckle down and finish a project, you say?  Knit away and taste the sweet joy of accomplishment?  Well, no.  Not. Even. Close.

Instead I wound yarn and started a new scarf.

Okay, so it's not finishing a project, but that's fine, right? I've wanted to start this pattern (Chadwick) forever. Years, in fact.  No joke.  Literally years.  I queued the pattern on Raverly in 2010.  I think the yarn was purchased in 2011 (at least the gray yarn).  Two years ago, I even blogged that I thought I would be starting Chadwick soon.  So if I wasn't going to finish a current project, what better way to get knitting mojo going?  New project!  Whee!! With my favorite merino cashmere yarn! This can't go wrong.  I'm going to happily knit my new scarf, and it's going to be awesome, and Knitter I will be again!

Three days later I put it aside and instead started to knit....

Wait for it...a facecloth.

Who am I?  And you know what?  I freaking love this facecloth.  I've already started a second one. Drawers of luxury yarn and precious handspun? No thanks, dishcloth cotton is calling my name.

Seriously guys, WTF?

PS.  Of course, facecloth knitting is fine and dandy if it's your thing.  If you love knitting dishcloths, go forth and knit and enjoy.  It's just never been my thing.

PPS.  Yes, I've been away from blogging forever.  Lots to catch up on, of course, but I needed to start back slowly.  Despite my recent knitter apathy, I was fairly productive this fall, so lots of socks soon!

Baby Tea Leaves

Whoa, it's been awhile since I've finished a knitting project.  I believe this is my first "finished object Friday" of 2014.  Of course, this is only my 4th post of 2014.  Knitting and blogging have sadly been a little further down on the priority list than usual, but at least I managed to churn out a cute baby sweater! And even managed to finish it up before the baby was born.

Pattern:  Baby Tea Leaves by Melissa LaBarre
Yarn:  Madelinetosh Pashmina, "Robin Red Breast"

It's an adorable little sweater.  I've always admired the adult version but something about doubling the number of stitches to knit the runched sections always deterred me (not to mention my lack of sweater knitting lately, but that's another story).  Baby runched sections went quickly enough that I finished them before I had time to start getting annoyed.

The good stuff:  It's cute, I finished something, and Madtosh Pashmina is really lovely to knit with and makes a beautiful finished object.  Soft with a little sheen and nice drape.  No clue how it will hold up for a baby, but the little one will probably outgrow it before it makes it out of the wash.

And of course, awesome buttons from Jennie the Potter:

In retrospect, I think white buttons on a red sweater is a little too much contrast, and if I could do it over, I might have done a white sweater with some red trim.  Something to think about if I decide to use the 3 leftover buttons for a new project.

So it's been awhile...

Yeah, yeah, almost 5 months, yada, yada.   Kind of a lot has happened, both in the knitting/spinning realms of my life and the non-crafty part.  I’d love to write about all the details, but to quote a favorite character, “No, there is too much. Let me sum up”.  (And if that doesn't sound familiar, it's been too long since you've watched the Princess Bride.  I'd get on that.)

KNITTING:  Holy sock mojo, Batman.  I finished 4 pairs of socks in Nov-Dec of last year.

1.  Nutkin; Sweet Georgia Tough Sock "Tapestry"; project page

2.  Simple SKYP; Sanguine Gryphon Bugga "Oak Timberworm"; project page

3.  Improvised toe-up with 2x2 ribbed leg; My handspun (!); project page

4:  Annetrelac; Rainy Days Wooly Dogs "Flugelhorn"; project page

The autumn sock knitting mojo really came out of nowhere.  Stats illustrate this anomaly best:

Pairs of socks completed in 2012: 3

Pairs of socks completed Jan-Aug 2013: 1

Pairs of socks completed Sep-Dec 2013: 6?!

The sock obsession left as quickly as it swept in because the calendar turned to 2014, and I’ve got no socks on the needles and no plans to cast on any. At least a small dent was made in the sock yarn stash before the impulse wore off.

Only one other big knitting project: Trellis and Vine Pullover (Interweave Knits, Fall 2009)

I can't even remember exactly when I finished this one.  All I know is it was after September and before Thanksgiving.  Here’s the quick and dirty about the sweater: 

• I ripped and reknit the bottom half after deciding to swap the lace/cable pattern for a hemmed edge. 
• I ripped and reknit almost an entire sleeve when I decided it was coming out too big. 
• All the reknitting must have been worth it because I wore it a ton this winter--it’s soft and super comfortable without being too warm and I adore it.  
• Soft yarn comes with a price--the sweater already looks a little ratty from the pills.  You can even see in the picture if you look closely, so, uh, don’t. (Yarn is Berroco Palace, 50/50 merino/silk.  Lovely, but pilly)

And that about wraps up the knitting.  I have absolutely zippo to show for 2014.  Not one thing finished (save a pair of sample/test socks that I can’t show off yet), and not really much started either.  Who has time for knitting when there’s….

SPINNING:

I suck at keeping track of spinning so I have no idea what I worked on at the end of 2013, but the first few months of 2014 were pretty productive.  I joined a challenge where everyone selected a "bin" of fiber to spin in 2014. 

The bin:

Progress to date:

If you want details, visit my handspun page on Ravelry.  If you’re not on Ravelry, you probably don’t care about the details anyway.   I'm a little over halfway through the bin, which isn't bad for only being a third through the year.  Except, like knitting, spinning has started to slow considerably too.  There's a good reason for that:

That “big plan” I really wanted my foot to heal up for?  Yup, an Ironman triathlon in Mont Tremblant (near Montreal) in August.  And if you're not big into the tri scene, that means a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run.  Yup, I’m crazy.  And nope, my foot is still not totally healed,  and I started Ironman training in January allowed to run only 30 second intervals at a time.  Lucky for me triathlon encompasses 2 other sports that I can spend loads of time on.  But that pretty much sucks because I enjoy running and sort of just tolerate the other 2 because the events are fun.  Oh, yeah, and it’s good for my body to diversify. Or something.  

Training is 6 days/week, with double workouts now on 2 weekdays, and lengthy weekend workouts which are only going to get longer.  Currently I'm at about 12-13 hours/week of swim, bike, run plus more time for strength training, driving to the pool or wherever I'm biking, stretching, icing sore feet, etc.  So, yeah, I'm neglecting the blog, knitting, and spinning.  Along with cleaning, shopping, brushing the dogs, and any laundry that isn't workout related.   

I'd like to say I'll be back soon, but, well, I'm not making any promises.  That said, I do have handspun epic afghan progress to share so there is at least some hope I won't fall off the Internet for 5 months again. 

OppAtt Socks

All week I've been planning to post mittens today.  The mittens have been finished for days, and while I may not be doing back flips over them, they are very nice mittens.  Nice, but at least for today, neglected.

Instead....SOCKS!!

Pattern:  OppAtt by Jeannie Cartmel
Ravelry Project Page
Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Lubber Grasshopper
Needles: 2.5mm
Cast on: Oct 2
Bind off: Oct 18

I finished grafting the toes and weaving in ends during a conference call this morning.  Even though the second sock had been going rather quickly, I didn't expect to finish the pair until this weekend.  I was so excited to wrap them up this morning that the mittens had to take a backseat.

Happy things:

1. I finished a pair of socks in 16 days.  That's huge for me.  The last time I knit a pair of socks in two weeks was probably 2010.  These were a nice reminder of a time when I used to get super excited about knitting socks.  I doubt I'll jump right back to busting out 10 pairs a year, but still, it's always nice to remember the good old days.
2. The finished socks are all one color.  Even after the scale confirmed I was being ridiculous about envisioning socks with half the foot in different yarn, I was still convinced I would need to use different yarn for the toes.  Nope. Finished socks, plenty of yarn.
3. I really never liked the first socks I knit with this yarn, and I hate waste.  Those socks in my drawer were a constant annoyance, and yet if you're a product knitter like yours truly, ripping out perfectly good finished socks is not easy to force yourself to do.  But I did it.  I have way better socks to show for that perseverance. 

Pattern notes:  Very little to say about the pattern.  It's free, clearly written, and straightforward.  I haven't had patience lately for complicated patterns, so this fit my mood pretty well.  There was enough going on to keep things interesting but nothing that required much thought.  The pattern is another one that's been in my Ravelry queue for years.  I'm loving clearing some of these out of there. Almost as satisfying as knitting down stash. Now that the socks are finished, I realize there are a few things I don't love about the design.  Like the way the cables merge together on the side into a tree trunk looking thing.

Or that narrow strip of reverse stockinette on part of the heel flap.  But, whatever.  Teeny tiny quibbles not worth wasting energy on.  Instead, I'm smiling just thinking about finished socks.  Buttery soft finished socks in luscious yarn.

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FO Fridays: Skid

Skid has been done for awhile but laziness (and lack of decent light for photos) kept it from the blog last week, so without further delay...my second finished knitting project for 2013!

Pattern:  Skid by Stephen West
Yarn:  Madelinetosh Vintage in Composition Book Gray and Butter
Needles:  US size 6 and 7
Size: Large
Ravelry Project Page

Not too much to say about this one.  It was pretty easy and fast.  The pattern is somewhat confusing about moving the start of round stitch marker--never really tells you how to work in your color changes.  I tried a few rounds of moving the color change with the marker but that looked like crap so I gave up and changed colors at the same stitch every round.  I eventually stopped moving the stitch marker altogether because I couldn't see the point.  I'm sure I'm missing something totally obvious, but whatever, it looks fine.  And it is, as advertised, totally reversible.

Thank you helpful balloon model

It's a little roomy so I might chuck the whole reversibility thing by sewing in some fleece lining to make the hat warmer, but that is still to be decided.  Most likely it will be spring before I get to the fabric store, and I'll have plenty of time to decide.

Thank you all for your support (and encouragement) of the Stephen West addiction that I wrote about when I started the hat.  Sounds like I'm good company!  I expect Chadwick will hit the needles pretty soon!

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Irony

Know what happens when you boast Friday morning about your strong immune system and that you haven't had a cold or virus in years?  Yep, I'm sure you can guess.  Less than 10 hours later you are lying in bed with chills and body aches and your weekend plans go right to hell.

Too wiped out to deal with Vivian, cables, and sleeves, all of my weekend knitting was on an older, even more neglected project.

SOCK YARN AFGHAN OF DOOM

Two days in bed and at least 10 squares later, my immune system seems to have gotten the better of whatever struck, and I'm on the mend and back to the spinning wheel and Vivian.

I just screwed myself with that last sentence, didn't I?

December Catch Up

As usual, I have weeks to catch up on so let’s skip the whole 2012 year-in-review thing and the inevitable 2013 resolution post (at least for now) and go straight to the yarny stuff.

No, I have not been gone for weeks because I died under a pile of smittens, but I did keep going with them for at least a few more days.

After smitten #10, I was able to conquer the obsession  (okay, fine, I started running out of appropriate handspun leftovers).  A day or so after I cleared my head from the smitten haze, I started back on my WIPs and the rest of December actually ended up being rather productive.  First up, I almost finished a sweater.

Yes, it's an odd picture, but the sleeve cuffs (can you call 8 inches a cuff?) are the coolest thing about the sweater so there ya go.  I totally could have been wearing this one for Christmas had I planned a little better when I bought this yarn for a completely different project over two years ago and psychically realized I was going to change patterns and probably needed one more skein.  For a couple of nights, I played the "maybe if I knit fast enough, I can finish before the yarn runs out" game.  Then I came back to reality, weighed my yarn, and admitted there was no way that what I had left would get me through the second sleeve.  I hunted up and ordered an extra skein, but was forced to put the sweater aside to save my remaining yarn so that I could alternate it with the new skein.  MadTosh is not exactly known for consistent skeins even when you buy them together, and two years apart?  Yeah, I was just hoping it was still some shade of grey.

Forced to abandon the sweater, a funny thing happened.  I was hit with strange motivation to knit my heart out and finish a pair of socks that were intended to be a Christmas gift--an idea I had long ago given up on since the first sock wasn't even completely finished.  This motivation hit on Dec. 22nd.  Nice timing, right?  Here is what the next three days looked like:

Yup, I said it, BAM!  I knit the entire second sock in two and a half days.  Yes, I know there are awesome knitters out there that can bust out a pair in the same amount of time, and yes, I realize these aren't exactly tall socks, but whatever, a sock in three days is about as good as it's ever going to get for this fickle knitter.

With the socks finished, I had the drive back from Connecticut to Maryland free to turn back to the handspun projects.  Relaxing on the couch after we got home, I finished up the Lacy Baktus scarf.

 

A few days and three different bind-offs later, Mike's socks made their way to the finished pile.

Then I threw some handspun on the loom and busted out a scarf for no particular reason.

  

And yet, I still wasn't quite finished.  I managed to squeeze one more skein of handspun and most of a hat in before the calendar hit 2013.

I tried to spin bulky yarn.  I mostly failed.  And while I love, Love, LOVE the hat pattern (Squall by Glenna C.),  I do not love how it looks with the color variation so the yarn is destined for another project.  Still, I enjoyed the hell out of myself knitting it, so it's all good.

And there's the December crafting.  Phew!  I'll try to get January in before we hit February!

Finished Object Friday: Laika

Laika and I did indeed find our happily ever after.

 

Before I get into the details, reasons I love Laika:

• I bought yarn with a project in mind and then actually used the yarn for said project.
• I started it on the way to Lake Placid so it makes me think about Mike finishing an Ironman.
• It kept me sane in the jury room for over 2 weeks in August/September. 
• It fits.  Most importantly, the upper arms are not too tight (explained below).
• I FOUND AWESOME BUTTONS! (more on this below too).

Basic Specs:

Pattern:  Laika, from Little Red in the City by Ysolda Teague

Yarn:  Verdant Gryphon Mithril in Dolce Far Niente (2.1 skeins, about 1550 yards)

Needles:  3mm and 2.75mm
Cast on: July 18, 2012
Finished: November 11, 2012

Notes, thoughts, and general excited rambling…

Pattern:  It’s Ysolda, the pattern rocks.  That said, being familiar with shaping lace was a huge help.  I found everything completely clear, but I read many comments that the directions for the yoke and body were confusing, so maybe this wouldn’t be the best choice for a first sweater or even first top-down sweater.  I’ve knit oodles of top-down sweaters, and at least three or four sweaters with lace shaping, so I found the pattern easy to follow. 

Construction:  For the most part, it’s a basic top-down raglan.  When the main body portion is finished, the stitches are put on hold until the hood is knit.  You then pick up stitches up one front side, around the hood, down the other front side, and join this together with the live hem stitches to knit the garter edging in the round.  I love the look of the end result, but cramming 500-600 stitches on a 32 in circular needle made this part a bit tedious, yet not tedious enough that I was willing to go buy a longer circular.  Messing up the placement of the second row of buttonholes and having to rip out the bind off and 4 rows to fix them didn’t add to my love of this part.  And seriously, bind off loosely!

Modifications:  Not much. I added a bit of length to the body, maybe even a bit too much, but I figured better to be a little long than too short.  I knew the mesh would lengthen when blocked but wasn’t sure how much so it was a little difficult to judge length.  And given the edging construction I explained above, fixing length wouldn’t exactly be a simple process of taking out a hem bind off and adding an inch or two if the sweater didn’t block out as much as expected. 

The only other minor change was that I pretty much ignored the sleeve shaping instructions and shaped the sleeve to my arm.  I think the directions instruct you to start decreasing after about 20 rounds, but I have biceps. Apparently freakishly large enough biceps for 2 or 3 of my handknit sweaters to have too tight upper arms--lesson learned.  I started decreasing around row 50 and tweaked from there.  Also added a few rounds to the sleeve cuffs just because I like the look of a wider cuff.  Judging sleeve length was also difficult due to the stretchy mesh, so I blocked the sweater after finishing the first sleeve to make sure I was happy with the length before starting the second one.  I really didn’t want to have to rip out 2 cuffs.  And again:  bind off loosely!  Even though I was consciously trying to keep things loose, my first cuff felt tight so I ripped it out and used the stretchier bind off I use for shawls (p2tog, slide stitch back to left needle, repeat). 

Sizing:  I almost always knit a 34 inch bust size, but for Laika, I knit the 36 inch (my actual measurement is around 35.5 if anyone cares for comparison).  My teeny tiny swatch seemed to indicate that my gauge was a little smaller than what was specified, and I didn't want to take a chance on the front gaping when buttoned. Plus, I sort of liked the idea of this sweater fitting a little more loosely than some of my super fitted knits. I think the fit came out just about perfect--fitted enough to be flattering, loose enough to be comfortable and lay smoothly.  I just went and measured and the bust is about 34 inches when buttoned.  Gauge was definitely off then!

Yarn:  Ysolda notes that using a  heay laceweight instead of fingering weight yarn is an option, and I ran with that.  I love that I used laceweight, even despite my dislike of actually knitting with laceweight.  I get warm easily so I like the lighter fabric, and I like that even the high quality yarn I used was by far less expensive than most fingering weight yarns.  Laika needs a lot of yardage (yarn is held double for the garter edging).  I bought 3 skeins, which was way more than I needed (used less than 100 yards from that third skein).  Even so, I still saved $$$, and now I have about 700 yards leftover for a lace stole or something.  Not to mention, being a huge Lord of the Rings nerd, I was excited to have an opportunity to use Mithril.  I fully expect arrows and spears to bounce right off this sweater. Bonus! And if you're not a Lord of the Rings nerd, just forget that last line.

Another fun fact:  the only yarn I bought in 2012 were these 3 skeins and 1 skein of sock yarn.  Yay for stash control!  Can't say I was as restrained with the fiber purchases, but let's not go there.

BUTTONS, BUTTONS!!  Can you tell I'm sort of excited about the buttons? I was sure button choice was going to make or break this sweater.  There are so many that they had to be unique but not too flashy.  I only wanted to match the color if I found something super cool looking, otherwise, I had to find a nice contrast, but not too much of a contrast.  In other words, I expected to struggle and be ridiculously indecisive and second guess for days whether I chose the right buttons.  Nope.  The first ones I held up were meant to be.

I love the buttons I found.  LOVE them.  Good thing too since at almost $2/button, buying 22 was starting to approach the cost of the yarn.  I do feel like buying such expensive buttons was a little bit frivolous, but I figure that after conceptualizing the sweater, buying nice yarn, swatching, and knitting for over 3 months, cheaping out on buttons would be stupid.  The buttons turned this from a sweater I'm pleased with to one of my favorite knits EVER.  So yeah, a few extra bucks seems worth it.

So there ya go.  Everything you wanted to know about Laika and more.  Unless you wanted to see it with the hood up, in which case:

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Squee!

I'm a pretty reserved person and not usually prone to excited outbursts or squeals of excitement, but just this once.....

That, my friends, is a finished Laika.  Buttons sewn, ends woven in, blocked.  In other words, finished.  Completely finished.  Worn to work yesterday and everything.  So once again.....SQUEEEE!

Modeled pictures and loads of details coming on Friday.  I have a ton to say because if you couldn't already tell, I LOVE THIS SWEATER!

I'll be heading back to sweater #2 and the cables that never end now.

Simple cables, but lots of them.  Every other row.  Progress ain't speedy.

Commitment Issues

Thanks for all the positive feedback on my last post.  It was definitely a fun one to write.  One of these days, I’ll get around to the “when to call it quits” post, but I'm still in denial about those projects, so not yet.

For weeks I've been in knitting bliss working on Laika.  I've ignored all my other projects, cancelled plans with a sock-in-progress, and a month flew by and I realized I've been knitting and not blogging.  I guess I should have realized the honeymoon had to end at some point. You know what will almost always kill a perfectly good knitting relationship?  Sleeves. 

I happily stuck with Laika through knitting the hood, and even put up with over 550 stitches crammed on my 32 inch circular to knit the garter edging.  Even after I cast off the edging and realized the bind off along the hem was a little tight and that my second row of buttonholes were not placed evenly with the first row, I stuck with this sweater.  I took apart the bind off and ripped back 4 rows and over 2,000 stitches to redo those buttonholes.  As I bound off 550+ stitches for the second time, I was sure I was going to stick with Laika until the end.  

I went into the sleeves with an open mind, even buying new 11 inch circulars so that I wouldn’t have to fuss with DPNs or magic loop.  But I’m bored.  Bored to tears.  Size 2 needles and full sleeves is a lot of knitting.  Boring knitting.  On itty bitty circs that are convenient but not exactly enjoyable to knit with.  By row 10, I knew the magic was gone, and I'm ashamed to say it, but my eye started to wander.

It started so innocently (don't these things always?) with a spin along on Ravelry and a gorgeous braid practically leaping out at me from the stash.  I rationalized that a new spinning project and taking time away from Laika wasn't cheating.  I mean spinning is a whole different craft. But it had to happen at some point.  The yarn is finished.  

Fiber from Bee Mice Elf.  BFL in "Heatwave". 420 yds, 2-ply fingering weight

I was weak.  The yarn was barely dry before I cast on a new project.

Lacy Baktus

It's just a break.  A short one.  I'll head back to Laika soon if for no other reason than the weather is finally starting to cool off, and I'm so close to having something new to wear.  I can't let pesky sleeves hinder wardrobe expansion. 

If knitting were dating, your project would be....

I saw holiday decorations in Costco last week, which was enough to jolt me into my  annual “attempt to knit-down all the WIPs before the end of the year” tradition.  I pulled my half-finished projects out of the closet, and realized that despite being married, I have a good number of relationships on the side--only with knitting projects. My WIP projects have so much in common with relationship cliches, you'd think the list was thought up by Sex and the City writers.

One-Night Stand

That project you impulsively cast on and knit furiously for a day or so only to wake up feeling a little dirty.  You shove it into a bag or closet, blame it on yarn fumes, and hope no one noticed. 

Ah, the handspun striped scarf. I knew a 1x1 rib scarf was a bad idea, but it felt so good at the time.

On-Again/Off-Again 

You start knitting a new project; you put it down. You fall in love with it all over again a few months later; it doesn’t last and you push it away again. You keep trying to go back to it and make things work, but by now there’s so much baggage, the whole thing seems like too much work. 

Oh Vivian, it's been 2 years, and all we can show for it is 3/4 of the body of a sweater and 2 ripped out sleeves.  One more try, Vivian, then we're through. I mean it this time.  Really.

Friends with Benefits

The project you go back to every now and then for a good time, but that’s it.  No expectations.  No finishing deadline.  Just a break to distract you from all the other projects causing you headaches or tears. 

My handspun afghan may take me years, but the knitting is easy, each square is instant gratification, there's no pressure, and I get to use my handspun.  Everyone should have one of these.

It's Not You, It's Me

This project is like that best guy friend that seems perfect except for the whole lack of attraction thing-- tons of great qualities, but no chemistry. 

This Hermione sock has a lot going for it: merino cashmere sock yarn, an easy pattern with a little texture, and it’s a nice portable project.  But I’m just not feeling it.  

Good on Paper 

You think everything should work out.  The yarn is great, it’s perfect for the pattern, and you got gauge.  Despite everything it has going for it, the project is not sweeping you off your feet. This one is going to take a little more effort than you thought for things to work out.  Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.

Low-tide ripples, I really think I like you, but your fabric is a little dense, and geez, those cables are rather tedious. You've got potential though so I'm keeping an open mind.

Marriage Material

There might be some bumps along the road, but you’re happy with the project, you generally enjoy knitting it, and potential is there for a great finished item. 

Laika started out well, and we did hit a little slow patch, but she's my one and only right now.  Hip increases are finished, and I'm only a few rows from the main body portion being finished.  We spent the whole weekend together; I think I'm in love.

So there you go--my 2012 WIP line up (afghan exempted from the end of the year goal), most of which resemble rather unhealthy relationships.  This could get interesting...

Finished Object Friday: Helm

What does everyone need in August?  A winter hat, of course.  Duh.

Pattern:  Helm by Stephen West
Cast on:  Can't remember...a few months ago
Finished:  August 22, 2012
Yarn:  2 ply handspun from Fiber Optic superwash merino fiber, "Peacock"

I cast on this hat when I needed a break from a cabled sweater I was working on.  Note to self:  when taking a break from a sweater because you are tired of the cables, don't cast on a cabled hat.  A few rows into the cable pattern I realized my mistake, and Helm was tucked into the bottom of the knitting bag for awhile.  A few rows here and there over the last few months and ta-da, finished hat.  In general, a cool pattern (but really what Stephen West hat pattern isn't?), and it's perfect for showing off nice squishy semi-solid yarns.  I can see making this one again.  When my hands recover from the cables that is.

The only issue I have with the pattern is the sort-of earflaps, which are both my favorite and least favorite parts of the hat. The earflaps are awesome because they create a shape that completely covers ears, but they are shaped with short rows.  Everyone says not to pick up the wraps when you use short rows in garter stitch, and while this worked on one side, on the other, not so much.

 

Uh, yeah, the wraps always disappear in garter stitch and never leave holes.  Sure. 

But whatever, nothing a few stitches can't tighten up and with Helm, another skein of handspun bites the dust.  This was my third attempt at knitting this particular skein.  I was about to declare it cursed after knitting almost the entire skein twice only to not like the pattern on attempt 1 and to run out of yarn on attempt 2.  Helm to the rescue!

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A Good Citizen

This is what the first 2 hours of jury duty looks like.

  

The knitting dropped off quickly after those first couple of hours when I was actually selected for a jury.  The general public does not seem to understand that garter stitch and listening to testimony actually go beautifully together.  For some reason I decided not to try to point this out to the judge and dutifully kept the knitting tucked away in my bag while in the courtroom.

Knitting in the jury room during our breaks has sparked some interesting conversation.  No, I did not grow up knitting as a child, nor was I taught by my mother or grandmother.  Yes really, it was a grown-up decision I made all by myself (with the help of a couple of enabling coworkers).  A couple women wished they knit but insisted they don't have the time.  Um, you just talked about the 2 hours of television you're going to watch tonight, but whatever, I smiled sympathetically.  Must be rough to be so swamped, and no, I didn't see Project Runway this week.  My favorite though was that apparently I only have the time to knit because I don't have children.  Seriously?  I'm sure none of you other knitters out there have children either.  Wait you do?  You work full-time and have children and knit?  Will wonders never cease? 

And no, I did not get my hand-dyed merino cashmere laceweight at Michael's.

Work-in-Progress Wednesday: Laika

You know those vacations that you feel like you need a second vacation to recover from?  That would be my week in Lake Placid in mid-July.  We’ve been back for weeks, and I’m just starting to feel like I’ve got a handle on things again.  It was a fantastic week in a house filled with friends, good swim, bike, run training for me, and I got to watch Mike cross the finish line of his very first Ironman triathlon.  Amazing. But exhausting.  Especially when you top off a very active week with 2 long car trips.  I had some lofty crafting expectations for my “vacation” week, almost none of which amounted to anything.  My spindle never made it out of the bag, and my already lackluster Tour de Fleece fizzled to non-existence.

Despite a bag packed with 3 or 4 projects, the only knitting of the week, and pretty much the only knitting since, has been on Laika.

Sadly, not much to show for over 3 weeks of knitting.  I’m not sure what I expected from a sweater knit with size 2.5 needles and laceweight yarn, but in theory, I started this project with hopes of having a lightweight sweater to wear in the fall.  Even though I’ve been knitting Laika almost exclusively for weeks now, that goal is starting to appear rather delusional.  At this rate, the body alone will take a couple of months, and then when I think about sleeves and the hood…Oh. My.  I’m going to be knitting this sweater forever.  Perhaps I’ll shoot for a spring sweater. For 2014.  

Visit Tami's for more WIPW!

Decisions

Have I mentioned that I love my Jordan top?  Love. It.  I’ve worn it twice in 4 days and not because I neglected the laundry or something.  It goes with everything, is super comfortable, and I adore it. My next project has a lot to live up to, and with Citron finished (pictures and details on Friday!), I’m on the hunt for patterns desperately hoping to repeat some of my Jordan success. 

I seem to have the best luck with lacey lightweight tops.  Something light I can throw over a camisole with jeans is pretty much my work uniform.  Conveniently, I have 2 sweater quantities of laceweight yarn waiting in the wings for just such a project.

Option 1 is Mithril from the Verdant Gryphon that I picked up at MD Sheep and Wool, intended for Laika.

Option 2 is the laceweight yarn I whined was taking forever to spin a couple of months ago.  It did take forever, but the end result was over 1500 yards of my first laceweight.

I’ve been going back and forth over patterns for this yarn, but I think I’ve finally decided on the Barton Cottage Shrug (Ravelry link) from the Interweave Jane Austen Knits 2011 magazine.  While I’m not thrilled with the idea of buying a $14 magazine for one pattern, I really think has the most potential of all the laceweight sweater patterns I’ve poured over for the last several weeks.

Knowing myself, I would likely dither over which to start for days, possibly weeks, then decide, but change my mind and start from scratch searching for new patterns.  Since I’m heading out of town on Wednesday, I need to have it figured out and ideally swatched (yes, I’m really going to swatch this time) by Tuesday night.   Perfect timing to post the new project for this week’s WIPW.  See you then.

On a side note, WTF is up with me and pink lately?

FO Friday: Jordan

Well it took me long enough to finally get around to seaming the sleeves onto the body (possibly as long as it took me to knit the entire top), but Jordan has finally made it to FO Friday!

Pattern:  Jordan by Wendy Bernard

Yarn: M&K Linen (aka, impulse buy at LYS), about 615 yards

Needles: 5 US 

CO: April 2012

Finished: July 2012

I’m thrilled with how the top came out.  It is yet another project that I was too lazy to swatch for and decided to wing it and see what happened.  So far this method has been working out rather well for me. The length is perfect, the fit is perfect, and I’m sure this top is going to get a ton of wear.  I knit the pattern with no modifications, with the possible exception of adding an inch or so to the body.  The pattern is clear, the lace patterns are easy to memorize, and the knitting really did go fast when I devoted more than 5 minutes to it.

There is really nothing else to say about it, which admittedly makes this a pretty boring blog post.  I’ll try to have some disaster next time so I’ll have more to share. 

Happy Friday all!  Visit Tami’s for more FO Friday!