dynagirl

The KFS Sweater Project.

I’m still plugging along on my Dad’s sweater, but when I get bored with that, I take a break and work on something small. Or rather, something I think will be small… Here are the sleeves for Rogue #2, which will be a cardigan. I’ll start working on the body with Mac on December 19. Meanwhile, I’ve also been working on the Nikki Epstein Felted Floral Bag (Fall ’04 IK); comedy may not be pretty, but intarsia is even less so. At one point, I had about fifteen separate little bobbins of yarn floating along. I was thinking about making the back of the bag solid black, but that would be a) cheating and b) actually more tedious because it’s boring and c) what else am I going to do with that yarn? I’m not looking forward to the handles, and am hoping that I can get my little magic i-cord maker to work with this weight of yarn.

Sock in Regia, color 1960, just before unravelling.
I learned three things from this exercise:

1. how to turn a sock heel
2. tiny dpns hurt my hands
3. wool socks are scratchy

Make that four: I am not a sock knitter. Waaay too much boredom for the joint pain involved. I had shoved this in the back of my closet but one of the women in my knitting circle discovered she likes making socks, so I released this pretty yarn back to the stream and gave it to her last night.

Click into the comments the link, because in addition to being soooo fugly, it’s not so much safe for work.

Almost, I think, to the arms. I’m going to ditch the gussets and and steek the arms in, as following the pattern as written seems insane at this point. The sweater will be roomy enough without gussets, and gussets would mean that I’d have to start knitting back and forth instead of in the round. This four-hundred and twenty-six stitches per row is slow enough going as it is! It’s my father’s christmas present from last year — he picked the pattern and the color — and I’d like to have it done for him by this Christmas. You know you want to see it bigger, so click the photo.

Hey Big-Headed Paul, your hat is ready! Sorry it’s not in Hauk — it’s not quite available yet — but it will be plenty warm, especially if you’re getting it lined. Sorry about the crappy picture.

For once I went up to the size 3 needles when I got past the fold line as per the pattern, and I think that when I do DoN in the future I’ll stick with the No. 2s — I like the firmness of the resulting fabric a little better; maybe just for accessories, though. We’ll see.

This bag from the Fall ’04 Interweave Knits is too neat and must be made. I think I’ll use a different background color (black?) and maybe even get jiggy with some sequins or beads when I’m done. I’m going to pick up the magazine, but not the yarn today. I have to make lots more progress on Stornoway first.

There’s a bunch of other cool-looking projects as well. This is why I don’t stash yarn–I’ve got a longish list of things I’d like to do, and sometimes things jump in the line. No need to have all that yarn staring at you–or all your cash tied up in it, for that matter.

Breeds of Livestock.

Rogue is finally done! (This means it will be very hot outside soon.) The silly pose is to show off the cable detailing. I left off the pocket. Complex cables = easy peasy. Seaming set-in sleeves = pain in the ass. It probably needs a wash and block session; I’m waiting until I get some Eucelan or whatever is the Good Soap for Sweaters.

I have a lot of other things in the queue, but I’d love to have a tweedy red cardigan (3/14/04 entry) version of it, or at least just a tweedy red one! Again, for reference, this was Cascade 220 in color #9237 on #8 Addi Turbos.

Click the photo for a larger image.

Dale of Norway–maker of all the coolest ski sweaters–has a new yarn, Hauk, that’s been coated with teflon for super snow & rain durability:

I moistened the top of one swatch, set it on a piece of paper, and came back several minutes later–the water was still on top, and the paper was still dry. By comparison, the water passed through my Heilo swatches and onto the paper below.

You may remember that I made a few hats last year, and this year I have to make a few as gifts (in a different pattern!) — I’m very much looking forward to checking out this Teflon yarn, woo. And can I just say, awesome name?! Hauk!

Rogue now has a hood (sort of) and one sleeve. When I say it “sort of” has a hood, I mean that all was well and good until I got to the end of the decreases and realized that they are seriously off-center: the back of the hood is swung off dangerously close to the back of the right earlobe. What. The. Fuck? The center stitches and increases seem to be in the right place — but the decreases, which do follow in a straight line up from those, are obviously wrong. I haven’t frogged it back yet, in the hopes that I can figure out / get help with how to unravel and re-hook the wayward stitches. One sleeve is done, and the other is barely started. I was bored with the stockinette sleeves and I’m frustrated with the hood, so I’ve been spending more quality time with Stornoway. Two rows a day! Quel satisfaction.

The colors are seriously whack in these photos, as the Rogue is much more like the previous entry, and the dark navy Frangipani that is Stornoway is super-dark navy.

Finished the body of Rogue this weekend and I need to give my wrists a rest tonight but I’m champing at the bit to get at the hood. Also I need to maybe try to fix the start of the throat cable. I’m not sure if I’m going to sew up the hem as per the pattern or sew it up in the little roll it makes, I think it’s pleasing like it is. (It’s also several rows shorter there than the pattern because I didn’t like the depth of it as written.) This is the Cascade 220 in color #9237 from the gansey debacle, knit on #8 Addi turbos. If I hadn’t had all that yarn on hand, I’d have looked for a lightly tweedy yarn since there’s such a large expanse of stockinette. The Cascade 220 is very soft for being wool, and I don’t think it’d be itchy on bare skin.

Finished this the other week. I had a bunch of extra gold from the other hats and a skein of dark green I bought by mistake. Not being one to keep a big stash, and being a fan of the Best Football Team Ever In the World and Future… I put two and two together, bought a patch off of eBay, and voila! Dale of Lambeau. I made the lining extra long to both use up more yarn and keep heads extra warm during winter games.

Lest you think that all I shall ever knit is this same damned hat pattern, I am eight inches into Alice Starmore’s Stornoway (Fishermen’s Sweaters). It’s in navy Frangipani and it’s more than 400 stitches around. Progress is slow – I knit fairly fast, and it’s taking about an hour each row. Stornoway is my Christmas present to my father from 2003 (he picked th pattern and color) and I hope he gets it in time to wear this Christmas. I’ve also cast on for Rogue with the Cascade 220 from the Great Gansey Goof, and am four rounds into the body. After working on Stornoway and all those Dale hats, this yarn and #8 needles seems chunky to me, and I can’t believe how fast it’s going, at 10-15 minutes a round. It’s rather gratifying!

Given how tight the gansey was seeming I gave it to Russ to try on – and it was tight on his skinny frame. Feh. It’s finally frogged and I think it may make a nice Rogue. I was thinking of using a red tweed as
this Rouge Rogue looks so pretty, but a yarn in the hand is worth two in the shop.

I should mention again how much having a ball-winder rocks. This took about a half hour to wind and with Russ’ help – a swift is in order soon.

Finally posting this felted entrelac knapsack from Knitability. I did the kit; they had great service and nice yarn that smelled lovely. The bag felted easily but since the yarn is 15% mohair I took Russ’ beard trimmer to it to get rid of some of the longer fibers that were giving it too fuzzy of a halo. It’s very nice as a purse and it’s big enough to hold a knitting project. I was going to add an interior pocket for my wallet, phone and keys but I was too impatient and now I wish I had.

Got me a lil’ wool winder, and seriously, this thing is so fucking fun to use that I just wound up the butcher’s twine in the kitchen. Wind! Wind!
PS: Ruhama’s in Milwaukee charges A DOLLAR PER SKEIN if you want to use theirs. Skanks.

Hand Knits for Young Moderns: a ten page gallery.

Finally, something for myself. Of course, as I was stitching the patch, Russ said “hurry and finish it so I can steal it from you.” Nice!

I have a lot of the gold left, and some dark green so I’m going to make a Dale of Lambeau hat with a Packers G patch. w00+.

What Not to Knit, Part IV
Via CurlyPurl

You can’t see the glove fingers clearly in this photograph, but Knitty’s Broad Street Mittens are like fingerless gloves with a mitten hoodie that buttons back at the wrist. I found the deer horn buttons I grabbed from the farmers’ market (50c!) and found the Lang Franca at the Sow’s Ear.

I’m going to join up at the Madison Knitter’s Guild tonight. I need to knit faster. Maybe it’s the size 2 dpns, but I started these four weeks ago (~1-2 hrs/evening) and am only just now to the decrease on the second finger-hoodie. I don’t know yet if I’m slow because I’m self-taught and missed the nuances of the movements that would speed things up, or if I’ve just been following Wendy’s blog too long.
UPDATE 1/27/04: Here they are, finished. They’re a little large on me so El Russ Fantastico wears them.

What Not to Knit, Part III

Humanity’s greatest inventions: knitting And beer.

Finished it! Well, mostly. I’m blocking it now, and will add the awesome wee patch after that. I managed to get an extra stripe in there, and an extra three stitches that will be well camoflaged by the patch. This was my first foray into knitting with more than one color at a time, and I have to say that it’s not at all hard. I would like to figure out how to carry the yarns on separate hands, though, as I hear that’s faster. If you want to see it bigger (and oh, I know you do), click on the picture.

The American Red Cross Museum has American a number of their Production Corps knitting patterns available online. Cool. I have to say, though, that I don’t think the poster designer knows anything about knitting. Is it even possible to do socks on two straight needles? It looks like a basket of snakes.

Made it to the top of the sweater; now to figure out what the shoulder straps will look like and on to the sleeves. ‘Cause I know you really want it, here’s the larger picture.

Because I want to learn how to knit with more than one color and also because I am insane, I picked up the Dale of Norway St. Moritz pattern book. Not totally insane, I’m starting with the hat. I didn’t buy needles, though, because I should finish the gansey first and I don’t need the distraction.

What Not to Knit, Part I
What Not to Knit, Part II

I’m about mid-boob on the gansey. Work on this has slowed as I should plot out the arm gussets and I’ve been too busy or too lazy until now. I’m going to pick up an extra set of needles this weekend so I can do the front and the back together after they split mid-gusset. For the amount of measuring and math (shudder) I did to work out this pattern, I’m more than a little concerned that it’s a wee small. Well, more incentive to exercise. ‘Cause I know you’re all so fascinated by this shit, click on the photo if you want to see it bigger. And yeah, it’s Photoshopped so that you can actually see it. So what.

Finished, finally, this sweet little hoodie (“The NaderHoodie”) from Knitting Without Tears. Only, this time, there were tears. I started with a pattern from the store, but after frogging the hood five times while being in a hurry to finish (the baby was done before I was) and not wanting to bother going back to the store for some schooling, I gave up and looked for a simpler pattern on-hand. The directions in the book say something along the lines of “use any size needle you feel like, in any gauge you feel like, because it’s going to be worn and outgrown at some point.” Yes… but by the time I realized that size 11 needles I started with (a stupid hangover from the first, failed pattern) were too big, the bottom of the jacket would make a better miniskirt for the baby’s momma. I started again, cut the pattern in half, and voila. I think it’s still a bit oddly proportioned (with no kids, what do I know?) but the funky-ass yarn hides it well. Besides, it’s going to get barfed on, so who cares?

Oh, and speaking of barfed-upon sweaters, did I mention that even though I specifically told them at the (otherwise not-sucky) store that this was for a baby, they suggested this funky-ass yarn that is dryclean or hand-wash only? Did I mention that I was in a hurry and didn’t THINK to check the tag myself? Bah. I’m glad it’s done and I can go back to the gansey:

How to knit a Durrow knot cable. 64 rows before the repeat. Holy fuck.