WIP Wednesday: Trellis and Vine Sweater

I thought that after eagerly finishing socks and mittens I would be on a roll to clear out more works-in-progress projects.  I was determined to finish stuff, and when I came down from my knitter's high of finished socks, I diligently turned to a sweater-in-progress.  My interest in that lasted only about a day.

Then I cast on a new Honey Cowl.

I cast on 240 stitches, very very carefully joined in the round, and started knitting. About six rows in I finally admitted that I had twisted my join.  I had tried to be so careful, but the cowl will have to be ripped out. 1500 wasted stitches. Obviously not tragic, but I'm taking it as a subtle nudge from the knitting gods: "go back to your WIPs".

Okay, done.  Back to my sweater project. 

This is the Trellis and Vine sweater by Carol Feller from an old Interweave Knits issue (Fall 2009, to be exact).  This sweater and I have already been through a lot of ripping and re-knitting. In August I ripped and re-knit about 5-6 inches of the body, and that finished sleeve you see?  Well, that's the second time I knit it. I think I've finally got all the issues fixed now, and with only half a sleeve left, this one is almost wrapped up.

Maybe a finished sweater will earn me new project blessings?  

Visit Tami's for more WIP Wednesdays!  And see you on Friday with mittens!

Fickle

I got a flu shot last week so I'm apparently safe from the flu for the next year, but what I really need someone to invent is a cure for startitis (come on brilliant medical researchers, the knitters of the world need YOU).  I've got a wicked case.

One day I was happily knitting away on my new sock project, and then BAM, I hit the gusset decreases (my least favorite part of socks), and everything fell apart.  In two days time, I cast on three new projects.

In my defense, I did finish one of them the same day.

Pattern:  Calorimetry. Yarn is some of my handspun (Ravelry linky)

I'm not thrilled with it. It's a little big, the fit is awkward, and I'm fairly certain I will never use it.  It's probably only a day or so away from disappearing into a drawer for years.

Despite the finished headband, my flurry of new projects is still not a good trend.  Yesterday, I cast on a new cowl in the morning. I was unhappy about it almost instantly.

Yarn is a recent handspun skein.

Those few rows have already been ripped, the yarn is back in the closet, and last night, I started new mittens instead. Less than 12 hours later and already decent progress.

Also knit in some recent handspun.

Speedy project to be sure, and believe it or not, but that is actually an adult-size mitten.  Unfortunately, I'm not exactly in love with this project either.  I put it aside before starting the thumb and went back to the original sock.

I managed to finish the gusset decreases, but I'm getting more and more concerned that I'm going to run out of yarn. The skeins from the ripped socks definitely looked small but I figured the leftovers I started the project with would make up the difference, and the plan was to stop knitting before the toe so that if I'm short on yarn, I can knit the toes in a different color.  I'm worried now that I won't even get that far. Impending yarn shortage and the possibility of socks with half the instep in different yarn makes me want to bury this project away and forget about it.  Forever.

So I've worked on four different projects in as many days, and I'm disgruntled with all of them for one reason or another.  I'm seriously considering forgetting them all for the night and cruising Ravelry for patterns because clearly if you hate all your projects, the only solution is to start MORE.

The practical side of me will probably win out and I'll go back to the socks or mittens.  Especially since I just remembered all the other languishing projects.

Uh, ops?  Not feeling proud of myself at the moment....maybe some finished mittens will help that?

Liar!

I totally lied in my last post.  Okay, not really lied, just avoided the whole truth.  Like the fact that in addition to the new scarf I cast on, I also spent most of last weekend knitting a new sock instead of Laika.  It would be one thing if I was taking time away to work on other WIPs on my list, but noooo, I'm casting on new projects.  I blame the handspun.  My desire to knit with my handspun clearly trumps my desire to finish WIPs.  Not to mention, I really need to start making a dent in my stash.

A couple of months ago, a nice fluffy package arrived filled with all sorts of fibery goodness.

Hey, when I'm lucky enough to get in on a Bee Mice Elf co-op, I'm going to make the most of it.  Mike had a good ol' time teasing me about the new fiber, and I admit, even the dogs are aware that the stash is starting to overflow.

In trying to defend my fiber acquisition, I reminded Mike that he picked out one of the braids for me to make him socks.  After I listened to how he suspected that he'd never see those socks, I marched straight to the wheel to start spinning his braid.  I suspect he might have been using a little reverse psychology. It worked.

Mike's chosen fiber (apparently Hartford Whalers' colors circa 1985):

The fiber is superwash BFL.  Soft, fluffy, drafts-like-butter BFL. I seriously loved every minute of spinning it, and not being able to tear myself from the wheel, it only took a couple of days.  I was aiming for yarn that would be around DK weight after I chain plied, and estimated that I should be able to get around 225 yards of yarn to use for An American in China socks.

Plan:  Good.  Execution: FAIL.

I divided the fiber evenly and spun 2 separate skeins. The thickness looked and measured about right, but then I checked the yardage.   Each skein was only about 80 yards for a total of 160.  It was about DK thickness but dense.  Really dense.  F*&^%^K!!

On the positive side, the yarn did come out super pretty, and there was only a 2 yard difference between my 2 skeins, so I think I'm getting better with the consistency thing.

Consistent or not, 160 yards was not nearly enough.  There went my pattern idea, and Mike nixed the idea of ankle socks. I thought about knitting him a hat instead.  Thought about begging Ravelers to sell me some more of the colorway.  Thought about ordering fiber to spin heel/toe yarn. In the end, I just chucked the yarn angrily into a bag.  Perfectly understandable.

But then I went to the LYS to buy needles for Laika, which gave me a good excuse to look for some coordinating yarn to use for heels, toes, and cuffs.  Superwash Cascade sportweight was the only yarn I could find in decent color, and since it's lighter weight than my handspun, I've had to knit the heel and toe on smaller size needles and then do some funky increasing and decreasing to get the size right.  There has been a good bit of ripping and making Mike try on the sock 500 times to make sure it fit.  Even with all that adjusting and ripping, socks with heavier weight yarn go FAST.

So they won't be tall socks.  But they will be finished, wearable, nice thick house socks for winter, which I can point to as tangible proof that packages of fiber tumbling into the house is a GOOD thing.

And see, Laika is right there with me and not being neglected at all.

Laika sleeve update: I'm almost finished with sleeve #1 and resisting the temptation to turn this into a sweater with 3/4 length sleeves.  Despite sock and scarf knitting, I have been working away on it every night this week. It occurred to me that I listed 3 sweaters I wanted to finish by the end of the year, and they all need full sleeves.  That's 5 more sleeves!  Groan.  I figure if I can finish Laika by the end of the month, I should be able to finish Low Tide in November, and can battle Vivian in December.  Yes, I'm back to my old tricks of knitting schedules and deadlines. It's who I am and I'm embracing it.  Or something.

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...

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!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday: Jordan

Last month I did what I considered to have been a very sensible knitting decision:  I put aside a wool sweater and cast on a lacey linen top.  Part of me felt a little guilty about this since I'm trying to avoid accumulating another pile of 14 half-finished projects, but with all of the unseasonably warm days this spring, I was reminded that summer is quickly approaching.  My summer wardrobe frankly sucks, and I seem to keep forgetting that finding time to go shopping is much more efficient than attempting to expand my wardrobe through knitting. 

Knitting becomes even more inefficient when you get halfway through the top and put it aside, which is what I did as soon as I finished the body of Jordan.

So for this week's WIPW, I decided I needed to resurrect Jordan from the knitting bag.  With a little focused knitting time, I should be able to finish the first sleeve today.

The trick will be not waiting until July to start the second one.


Visit Tami's Amis for more WIPW!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday: Diagonal Top

Earlier today I stumbled across Tami's Amis and her work-in-progress Wednesday (WIPW) posts.  Not only does she post her own WIPs, but she links to others who participate along with their own WIPW.  Convenient that I discovered this on a Wednesday, so as of today, I'm in!  It was fun browsing through everyone's WIPs, and since my own WIP pile is starting to grow again, I'm thinking that if I post the projects and acknowledge their existence, I might be able to get my startitis under control?  Maybe?  Probably not.  At the very least, I will devote each Wednesday to working on only the one WIP that is posted.  And maybe, just maybe, one day I'll consider attempting Tami's "finished object Fridays", but that seems a little too daunting right now.

My inaugural WIPW project is the Diagonal Pattern Top I started last week.  This is what I consider a "risky" project--meaning there's probably only a 50/50 shot that I'm going to like the finished top.

Problem #1:  I didn't swatch, and I'm using a fingering weight handspun merino single instead of the worsted weight rayon/milk yarn specified in the pattern.  You'd think the big difference might have pushed me to suck it up and knit a gauge swatch, but no, the desire to cast on a project with this yarn RIGHT NOW means I'm winging it. 

Problem #2:  I'm still not sure that I'm going to like the stripes.  This is the problem with fiber dyed as a slowly transitioning color gradient--tons of fun to spin, but then what?  Shawls are good options, but I wasn't in a shawl mood so I decided to experiment with what I hope will be a lightweight summery top.  A wool short-sleeve summer top?  And not nearly as lacy as I imagined.  See, already some serious red flags.

Problem #3:  The pattern has no shaping.  At all.  I'm switching needles sizes to try to give it a little waist/bust shaping, but since I did no swatching, I really have no idea how this is going to work.

Oh, and there is a good chance I'll run out of yarn.  Or I'll have way too much and never get to the pretty purple.  And yet despite all these issues and doubts, I'm happily knitting away.  Something about ending the  suspense is making me work away furiously.  Well that and because it is just so addicting to get to the next color.

 Visit Tami's Amis for more WIPs!

Back to Basics

About eight months ago, I started a gluten-free, sugar-free diet, and today is my first birthday without cake.  The diet has not been easy since I'm a complete sugar-junkie (I used to eat Peeps.  Enough said), and I adore baking desserts of all kinds. I think I would be okay with the fact that I spent my birthday morning at the motor vehicle association getting my license renewed and the rest of the day working if the day had ended with cake.  But, alas, no cake for me.  Cue the sad violin music.  Okay, pity-party over--I fully understand that I am an  extremely lucky person if all I have to complain about is a lack of cake.  Besides, if I finish a marathon this Sunday, I'm totally blowing my diet.  Maybe I'll skip a celebration dinner and just have celebration cake...

So let's move past my personal cake-crisis to something more interesting--knitting!  My 2012 knitting projects so far are full of fail.  I finished a cowl a few days ago that is destined for the frog pond, and I'm halfway through a second cowl that I suspect will probably look just as stupid on me.  I will post these as soon as I can get past my annoyance, which is compounded by the fact that for both of these projects I'm using my own handspun.  Needless to say, I'm feeling somewhat discouraged, and I'm eager to finally have a finished handspun project that I'm happy with and that is not a blanket square.

Last month I tried to tackle spinning this beautiful batt that I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool last year.

As much as I love the fiber, I didn't really know what to do with it.  No projects were jumping out at me, and with nothing in mind, I decided to spin the fiber as a single-ply light worsted weight yarn.

I was pretty lukewarm on the end result--sort of looks like blue mud, and with only 240 yards, project choices were limited.  But inspiration hit.  Years ago, I made Mike one of the immensely-popular Noro striped scarves.

It was absolutely no fun to knit, because really, is there anyone that enjoys knitting 1 x 1 ribbing for six feet?  But I love the finished scarf.  I admit, I'm still a little jealous that it's not mine, and so I got it into my head that the muddy blue handspun might make a nice scarf if I striped it with black yarn.

Fully prepared to be bored out of my mind, I cast on Saturday evening.  Less than 36 hours later I had about two feet of scarf.

I. Cannot. Put. It. Down.  I'm not sure if it's everything I had hoped.  I'm basically mixing a tightly plied smooth black yarn with a fuzzy single-ply handspun.  It's either a terrible combo or a perfect one, but I'm leaning toward the latter.  I am at least confident that I will not bind off this project only to find that it doesn't fit right or looks stupid on me.  This is the beauty of scarves.  Sometimes you just need to get back to the basics to be successful.  No fussy patterns, no uniquely shaped items, just 1 x1 ribbing for six feet.  I'm certain I will despise ribbing in a few days, but right now a finished handspun project that I'm happy with seems worth it.

Although I would trade it in a heartbeat for some cake.

Socks and String

I pretty much gave up on blogging in February. March isn’t exactly looking much better. Turns out marathon training can be sort of time-consuming. Long hours running I expected, but I did not count on needing to spend the rest of the day after a long run as a heap on the couch. Luckily for me, I can still sit on the couch and be a productive knitter. So while I have not been blogging, I have been knitting.

I finished the Sock Knitters Anonymous mystery socks in early February. It just took another four weeks for me to block and photograph them.

Pattern:  Blathnat (Ravelry download)

Yarn:  Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Lubber Grasshoppper

I'm lukewarm. The socks aren't quite my style. I suppose you take that risk with any mystery pattern, and I did really enjoy knitting them.  But...the fit is a little awkward for my foot and I think I made them a bit too short.  I was so looking forward to having my very own pair of Bugga! socks but these don’t have the same squishy softness as the Roger socks I made for Mike.  Looks like I’m going to have to find a nice textured pattern for myself and try again.

The pattern was well thought out and very clearly written, and since each clue had something new, it was a great mystery sock.  And hey, why am I complaining--I finished a pair of socks in a month and I can't even remember the last time that happened.  But all in all, the first finished project of 2012 is sort of a fail.  Bummer.  Moving on.

I was psyched about spinning some sock weight yarn last summer, so obviously finally winding the skein and casting on a sock was super exciting.  Despite choosing a very simple pattern that I thought would compliment the yarn, a few inches into the foot and I couldn’t deny that I liked the sole much more than the instep. After an impulsive decision in the waiting room of my dentist’s office, I pulled the needles out of the sock and ripped it back to the toe.  Plain stockinette it would be.  I’m about back up to where I was before I ripped.

These might take awhile due to my brilliant move to knit man-sized socks on size 0 needles.  The 2012 knitting is not exactly taking my breath away with success.

But where I am rocking out on the crafting front is on my spinning wheel. Despite tired legs and calves, I manged to keep treadling my wheel, and January and February were filled with spinning.

And more spinning.

And even more spinning.

I'm feeling too lazy to write out the details.  If you are interested in fiber, yardage, etc., all the skeins are on my handspun stash page on Ravelry. Now just to figure out what to do with all this pretty pretty yarn.