She Was Twisted

…for knitters and spinners.

Ravelry is what I’m talking about, as if you didn’t already guess that.

And to think I almost missed it.

My computer blew up right before the holidays and my mail program did a weird thing where it re-imported all my mail, including deleted mail. So I had like 200 “new” emails in my box. (I get a lot of spam.) I started going through all the recent crap to try to clean it up a bit. And low and behold, there was my invite from Ravelry from Dec. 9th! Oh my god, how did I miss that??

So I flew on over to the site and hooked myself up. OH MY it is cool. I love it, love it. Finally, one single place, online where I can keep track of what the heck I’m knitting these days and see what everyone else is doing. Lots of inspiration, tons of ways to get yourself in trouble. I am soooo glad my computer decided to play tricks on me or else I might have missed that invite forever and gone boo-hoo, boo-hoo.

I turned the heel of the purple cable sock the other day and now I’m busy knitting up the leg. It fits perfectly! Yay. Adding that extra cable really made a difference.

Here it is flat:

And a foot shot:

And another:

The gusset heel seemed to work,  however I’m not sure if it fits where it should. Is the curve part supposed to fall just after the curve of your heel?  Or is it supposed to fall right at the center of your heel?

It feels great, and seems to work just like it should. But I was just curious if I should have started the heel a little bit sooner than I did.

Here are the pics:

See, just after my heel. I also think I did something weird  on one side. It formed tiny little ridges where I decreased back down. (Or maybe it was where I made my M1) I will have to go back and look closer.

Regardless, I still love it. Much better than the short-row heel, in my opinion, which I don’t like at all for some reason. The gusset heel is tighter and doesn’t leave those horrible tiny holes where you wrapped the stitches.

So knitting up the leg I go!

It was nice and overcast today, perfect for snapping some photos, so I got some better ones of the blocked Rambling Rose Cardigan back.

MUCH better! It is amazing what a little natural light can do for a photo. (see 2 entries below to see how a flash can zap out the stitches.)

And a closeup. Isn’t it purtee?

(Excuse the horrible photo with a camera flash. It was a yucky day when I took the photo.)

The Rambling Rose back blocked to perfect shape! Yay! It is going to be o.k.! I was really sweating it there. I didn’t think it would ever turn out the right measurements. What was amazing, was how once wet, the back just stretched out to exactly what it was supposed to be. I didn’t really have to tug and pull much at all.

So now I can keep knitting on it. I had stopped for a long time because I wasn’t sure if it was worth it or not. But, alas, we are now moving along.

…but in a good way.

I started knitting these purple cable socks many months ago..o.k. like at least 6 months ago, maybe more. I didn’t account for the cables pulling the sides in when I figured my stitch count, and they were way too tight from the start. So what did I do? Kept knitting!!

I knitted all the way up to the heel, thinking, “they will just be extra snug socks.” But when I began the heel, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to squeeze my ankle through without cutting off my circulation. -As if I didn’t already know that from the start. So in disgust, I tossed the socks to the side and haven’t thought about them since.

Until…

I’ve been catching up on all the Lime n’ Violet podcasts that I haven’t listened to since July. And we all know how much they oogle over sock yarns and sock patterns. This, of course, inspired me to want to knit some socks. Since we are in poor mode, (can’t afford to buy anything unless it is necessary for existing. Ah-hem, yarn does not count.) I pulled out my sorry sock and started reworking my numbers. I added an extra cable and messed with the “in-betweens” a little bit, and got my stitch count to 72 stitches. -Which just happens to be the cast on for Wendy Knits’ Fingerweight Toe-Up Gusset Heel Sock Pattern. Perfect. I’ve never knit a gusset heel before, so it will be fun!

Here is my yarn:

Gorgeous! It is from Fearless Fibers, in the colorway “Midnight Passion.” Love it, love it. The thing I adore about her yarns, is that she does not hand paint them – she rainbow dyes in a pot instead. What this does is eliminate the chance for any pooling or patterning, which is something I really loathe about most hand dyed sock yarns.

So on to the sock.

Here is the new sock. It now has 4 cables instead of 3 – which isn’t quite as visually appealing, but it makes the sock wearable.

So far, it is feeling like a perfect fit!

Now here is the old sock. See how the stretched out the areas are between the cables? It really squeezes and stretches on my foot, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. (Can you believe that I knitted as much of it as I did, knowing in my gut that is was a bad fit?)

That is just me for you. I have a need for self-torture I suppose.

But I am loving knitting socks again. It has become my “knit outside while Evan plays in the backyard” activity. It is simple and easy enough of a knit that I can keep my eye on him while he plays, and since I’m knitting on 2 circs, I an easily put it down when Evan needs me.

In other news, I’ve got the Rambling Rose cardigan blocked out and drying right now. I think it is going to work!! I’ll post pics in my next entry.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving everyone. Eat LOTS of pumpkin pie!!

I’m not so sure about this Rambling Rose cardigan. I have the back completed and it looks WAY too small. Even when I stretch it out to what I think it will block to, I’m still left with a knot in my gut. I guess the only way to know is to throw this baby in the tub and block it out for real. I’m scared. What if all this knitting is for nothing and I end up with a 12-year-old sweater that I can’t wear? Oh the horror.

Well let me show what I’ve done. The lace really is pretty. And I just love this yarn. (Debbie Bliss Merino DK) So it does have 2 big points going for it.

This is the back without any bocking or stretching. I just flopped it down and snapped the pic. Next up is the closeup.

It looks really different when it is blocked. Really. Bigger. Yes. Like for an adult. Yes. That is what we will all chant together. Ready?

It is not too small.

It is not too small.

It will work out just fine.

Now go get some ice cream and be done with it.

If you are starting to knit the Rona Lace Shawl from Knit Picks, beware of a pattern typo on line 50. – You won’t discover it is wrong until after you’ve knit the row and are going on to line 51. According to Knit Picks, the correction is (printed in red):

Round 50: *(KB, p1)10 times, KB, k5. Repeat from * to end of round. (26)

And here are the other corrections if you are just now starting.

Round 38: *K5, KP in next yo, KB, P&K in next yo, k6. Repeat from * to end of round. (16) (note, the first yo into which the KP is worked is followed by KB – then work a P&K). If you do not reverse the order, from KP to P&K, the ribbed design will not come out right. Keep on doing so through the 46th round). …
Round 43: S(1)RHN, * yo, k2tog, yo, (KB, p1)6 times, KB, yo, SKP, yo, SK2P. Repeat from * to end of round. (20)…
Round 46: *K1, KP, (KB, p1)8 times, KB, P&K, K2. Repeat from * to end of round. (24)…

Somehow I got by without the other corrections. I wonder if anyone will notice? Naaah.

But while we are on the subject, here is my progress on the shawl. I’m on line 52 now. I wish there was a way to photograph lace on circulars without it looking like a piled-up load of poop. So use your imagination!

And here is a closeup.

All the ribbing and knitting through the back loop is killing me. I had half a mind to change it to normal knit, but then I was convinced there has to be a reason. I HATE knitting rib. It annoys me for some reason. I think if I were a Continental-style knitter and not a thrower, it might not annoy me so bad. -I’ve been trying to learn to knit Continental for awhile now, and I still need lots of practice. One day.

I have progress on the Rambling Rose cardigan as well, but I am out of time.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Yes, fake cashmere. I couldn’t resist buying some of this stuff. It is synthetic, made from rayon I believe, and is advertised as being as soft as cashmere. Machine washable and long fiber length is a bonus. Humm. Sounds fun, right?

Dyeing
Dyeing the fiber was a lot of fun. It soaked up the dyes beautifully. I used Lanaset acid dyes in pink, mauve, fushia and tan. I dyed the fiber in the crock pot, just randomly pouring color over the layers of coiled up fiber. The dye bonded just like an animal fiber. I didn’t have any color wash out in the final rinse. So that was a good thing.

But spinning it was a bit tricky.

Spinning
The fiber is so fine and has such a long staple length, that even just pulling the fiber apart was a challenge. It is STRONG. My first attempt was to spin a single-ply, bulky yarn. No, no, no. I got extremely frustrated. Drafting was a nightmare because if the teeny-tiniest bit of twist got anywhere near the fiber supply, the whole thing would harden up and not budge. After fighting with the roving for a half hour or so, I gave up. – Not worth my time.

So instead, I opted to treat the fake cashmere just like silk. – I split it down to tiny little strips about the width of my pinky, and I spun long woolen-ish style, never allowing the twist to ever come in between my front hand and the back hand holding the fiber. Now we are spinning! The biggest challenge was to keep the twist away from the drafting triangle. I plied it and ended up with some really nice worsted weight yarn.

Now is it as soft as cashmere?

IMO, not really.

The Yarn
In my opinion, it is identical to silk. It feels like silk, it spins like silk, it has the same strength as silk and it knits like silk. I really think they should call it fake silk. And if anyone thinks I’m out of my mind to say this, please! let me know. I’d love to hear what other folks think of this stuff.

I do love the slight sheen, the softness and the “crisp” in the final yarn. However there is very little stretch (what is that called – elasticity?) so you wouldn’t want to make anything that is going to require a lot of stretch and memory.

Oh wait – but I am one for doing exactly what you shouldn’t do…so I decided to knit a pair of wrist warmers.

The Knitting
I looked through my handy-dandy book, The New Knitting Stitch Library, and found a simple cable-looking pattern that isn’t really a cable. (The cross-over is actually formed by knitting behind 3 stitches.) Then I knit up a swatch on size 7 needles, calculated my stitches per inch, measured my wittle wrists and found me a cast-on number. Last some fiddling here and there and figured where to place my cable.

The cable was a pain in the butt to knit with the fake cashmere. Remember my saying that there was little to no elasticity and memory? Well try knitting in the back loop of a stitch that is 4 stitches over on your needles. You have to stretch across without dropping all the stitches that are being skipped. I found it very difficult. I would imagine had I been working with a nice stretchy wool yarn, it wouldn’t have been such an ordeal.

To add some frills and thrills, I added a ruffle border that I found in the book, Knitting Over The Edge. Again, this was not fun at all to knit with a non-stretchy yarn since you are knitting like 3-4 times in the same stitch over and over again. But the ruffles are so cool. I love them.

End Result
I do like the faux cashmere a lot. It created a strong, super-soft yarn that I can dye with my regular acid dyes, and can throw in the washing machine when I please. However, I did learn to treat it like silk in both spinning and knitting. Plan projects accordingly. My wrist warmers are warm, snuggly and soft. Now I need to start all over again and see how much more I can learn with my next project!

Hum, what do we have here?

Why it’s a box. A really cute suitcase box.

And inside? Why there’s knitting!

What knitting to be exact? It’s the start of the Rambling Rose Cardigan from Interweave Knits Winter 2006 issue. My first attempt to knit a sweater ever. Yes, I am a sweater knitting virgin. (I’m not counting the few baby sweaters I’ve knit.) Let’s see how many YEARS is takes me to complete this one!

There has been a lot of negative criticism on this sweater all around. And I have to agree with most of it. The original sweater is 2 colors which makes it quite hideous in that “baseball jersey” kind of way. The second thing it has going against it, is the model they choose to wear it. The sweater stretches on her like a glove, and accentuates all the wrong parts. She is completely popping out of it. Beautiful model, not so beautiful in a sweater 2-times too small. But the RR has so many nice things. I love the lacework. Interesting, daring, different. If you can look past the 2-tone thing and the way it looks on that particular model, it is a really beautiful sweater in my opinion.

So I started it about a month ago using Debbie Bliss Merino DK wool yarn that I bought at Little Knits. (LOVE this store btw. I got all 10 balls of DB for under $30!!) The color was much brighter than what I was hoping for, but I decided to truck on anyway.

Then I ran into a huge snag after knitting what you see in the photo. The back width looks like it is going to be teeny-tiny. (oh please don’t make it fit me like it does the model.) I checked my gauge and it was right on. I had to remind myself that this is lace, so it will need to be blocked and will become much longer than what is on my needles now. When I stretched it to what looks right, it does become the total 30″. Well I still wasn’t convinced. The last thing I want is a sweater too tight for me to wear. I put it aside for about a month while I tried to decide if I should go up a needle size or two or start hunting for a new pattern. Finally last week I pulled out a stretchy, fitted cardigan I forgot I had to wear. I loved the way it fit me. So I compared it to the knitting I had so far for the RR, and lo and behold, they matched almost perfectly. That made up my mind to leave it alone and keep going. Over the past fews days I’ve gotten a few more inches done. So far so good, and I’m really liking the patten so far. Fairly simple, yet complicated enough to keep me interested.

(this is a re-post from my old blog)

As if I don’t already have a difficult enough time keeping my brain on track these days, I decided a month ago that I needed a lace fix….and an intense one at that. I saw the pattern for the Rona Lace Shawl at Knit Picks and just HAD to have a go. I’ve only knit one other lace shawl before, so you can see why this pattern will be such a challenge. Look at the variety in stitches…wowee. Love it. You heard me complain before that my biggest challenge as a knitter is not getting bored? Well this one will definitely keep me going.

Here is my progress. The yarn is also from Knit Picks, it is a laceweight 100% Merino called Shadow, in the Jewels colorway. Nice, nice yarn with great depth since it is basically 2 shades of blue plied together.

I am loving this pattern so far. Here is the coolest part (well, at least I think so) – the pattern is written out line by line, not in chart form. That I love. Following a chart is all handy-dandy since it is small and easy to take with you, but in the end when you are working on complicated stitch repeats, writing it out, at least for me, is the only way to go.

Besides, if I REALLY want to freak out a non-knitter (or knitter for that matter), all I have to do is flash the 3 PAGES of written out lace, line by line, and they will gasp for sure. It’s like looking through one of my brother’s electrical engineering books from college. All numbers, formulas, symbols and who-hauz you have no clue how to read. Now I can arm myself with my knitting pattern and go head to head with the math and science geniuses. ha ha. I’m on line 35. Big proud smile.

Here is what I’ve learned so far from this project:

1. Don’t get too cocky.

Every time I think I’ve memorized the repeat and can do it all without looking at the sheet, I eventually mess up. It also seems that every time I’m feeling good about it and I speed up the knitting – dropped stitch city.

2. Don’t try to watch TV or have conversations while knitting difficult lace.

I have to repeat that I do have Mommy brain and it flies away very quickly and suddenly, so this could be just me, but when engaged in something or someone else, I stop paying attention and I end up backtracking more than knitting.

3. Knit just a few rounds everyday and you’ll feel like you’re getting somewhere.

I don’t have much time AT ALL for knitting, so I keep this project beside the bed for my “bedtime reading” if you will. Even if that means one round before bed, I am still making progress.

4. Cheat when you need to.

I tried to knit the first 6 rows 3 times before I decided there was no way to knit 3 stitches with YO increases every other stitch on DPN’s. How do you make a YO between needles?? I couldn’t get it to work. So I cheated – I knit the first 10 rows on straight needles, then stitched the ends together to form the circle. Brilliant. In the end, who will notice?

There, I’ve cleansed my knitting self. There is a tiny ridge where the edges meet up, but it doesn’t bother me. You should have seen the horror when I was trying to knit the center on DPNs. Talk about some BAAAAD knitting. But we are all better now.