11 August 2009

I Do Not Like Magic Loop

I'm working on a sweater for Penelope for her birthday (why, yes, it is today, and I started on Sunday, with sock yarn, but it's August, so she doesn't really need a sweater *today* today). Anyway, it's a top-down raglan cardigan that I'm winging. Apparently, I don't have a set of US6/4.0mm DPNs but do have an Addi Turbo (cue light saber sound effect). I think the problem is that I only have 44 little stitches on these needles, so I am constantly having to shift the cable. Gah, I think I'm going to frog the sleeve and knit it flat - the sleeve is small and the yarn dark (BMFA's Socks That Rock Lightweight in Lenore from the 2007 Rockin' Sock Club) and practice seaming is always good.

Ah, that's better. I can purl far faster than I can wrassle cables. Off to figure out rate of decrease on the sleeves. Or should I leave them full and decrease rapidly at the cuff for a little puff?

10 August 2009

Sock Summit 2009 article

Sounds like a great time was had by all. And not a single mention of "grandma's knitting" :) [Link]

09 August 2009

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth Zimmermann


Today is Elizabeth Zimmermann's birthday, so knit on with confidence and hope through all crises!

What are you knitting today? I'm working on a design in which i-cord and circular knitting play prominent roles - very EZ.

Why don't you go knit some Christmas Fiddle Faddle in the Woods? It is August after all. I'm going to work on mine in a couple of weeks when I am, in fact, in the Great North Woods of Wisconsin - very EZ, indeed.*

And if you haven't seen this online companion to the New School Knitting exhibition of 2006, check it out.

*If you don't have Knitter's Almanac, why not order it from Schoolhouse Press (scroll down a little ways) today? It is such a wonderful book.

07 August 2009

Hudson Valley Fiber Farm/Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm

Just found this little bit of fiber p0rn while perusing photos of the lovely Hudson Valley Fiber Farm on apartmenttherapy.com. Antique house, fiber-bearing beasties (and chickens), and a lovely yarn shop. I may need to take a trip to the Hudson Valley!

Wait, there's more! These folks also own the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm, and you can go to Shepherding Camp on the Island. OK, that's now on my someday list!

FO: My Socks




Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock, plus Judy's Magic Cast-On, plus a picot hem - Purly's Own Hodgepodge Sock :) [Ravelry link]
Yarn: madeline tosh sock in Twilight from Purl Diva
Needle: US0/2.0mm HiyaHiya sock/glove DPNs (the short ones)
Mods: None, since I was kind of making it up as I went along

Ah, nothing like putting on a pair of wool socks in August. The things we do for our blogs. I am looking forward to wearing these, though, when the weather gets nippy. They fit like a dream, particularly for my spaghetti toes. The ability to try on as you go is great for people with long feet like mine.

Way back when I started these, I think I tried using a US2 needle, which made for a floppy fabric, not what you want in your socks. I ended up going all the way down to the US0 needle but broke one of my bamboo ones before I found these HiyaHiyas. I used the metal ones, which are very silky (I find Addi Turbos too slippery sometimes, though they work well for certain projects). I'm looking forward to the interchangeable set that is coming this fall from HiyaHiya. Perhaps right around my birthday next month?

Anyway, the first sock went quickly, but I suffered serious Second Sock Syndrome (SSS), which might be alleviated on future sock projects if I chose socks with, you know, patterns or something. I keep trying to convince Nick to take up sock knitting (he's a nail nibbler) to keep his hands busy. And I'd get socks out of the deal. But he's not buying it.

The picot edge flips a little, as you can see in the heel picture, so I may redo it. But for now they are done and ready for the cold weather sure to come eventually. Don't you like the heel? I think the way the yarn sort of bull's-eyes is cool.

OK, off to work on a design. It's a good distraction from Isobel's father's visit. Luckily, she's having a great time, so it's worth it.

P.S. Like the lobster-red adirondack chair in the heel shot? It finally stopped raining long enough for Nick to paint them - pretty fabulous.

06 August 2009

Learnin'

I'm very excited to have signed up for a couple of classes in the next few weeks.

Two-Handed Fair Isle at Fiber Revival on the afternoon of the 15th, and it turns out that the teacher, Isobel (yes, spelled just like my Isobel), once lived a block from our apartment in New York, though she now lives in Portsmouth. It's a small world out there, especially in New England, I think.

I'm really looking forward to improving my colorwork skills. And if that doesn't work, I hope to find some way to get back up here to Maine the first weekend in October to take Mary Jane Mucklestone's class at Purl Diva.

Did you read the profile of Ms. Mucklestone in Interweave Knits by Julia Farwell-Clay? I haven't yet, but Nick should be bringing my issue back from NYC tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it, as well as the rest of the issue. And I'm looking forward to attending the Fiber Revival, which, I believe, began in 2007, not long after I left Boston's North Shore for Chicago's. I hope to see old friends and make some new ones.

Then I get to meet Franklin Habit. Finally! Between Chicago, New York, Boston, and Mid-Coast Maine I should have met Mr. Habit long ago, but somehow it never worked out. Now, it's working out perfectly.

I'll be able to take his Photographing Your Knitting class at Loopy Yarns on Saturday the 22nd. We arrive in Chi-town on Friday to see my dear in-laws and meet our new niece (Nick's sister is pregnant with her first baby - knit pics to appear in this space shortly), then we'll head for Door County after my class to spend the week with my family (my parents, my brother and his wife and their two kids; sadly for us my sister will be just getting back to Germany after a month in Afghanistan, so we won't see her until Christmas). Somewhere in there we need to see my BFF and her family, too, especially as her little big man just broke his leg. Ugh! Poor everyone. Any thoughts on entertaining an active, sports-enthusiastic almost-five-year-old in a full-leg cast? While keeping the toddler man happy, too? And I thought I had it bad in my rain-soaked, doorless cottage earlier this summer.

Now I'm off to work on a new design, hoping to submit it to a cool, online knitting publication. Cross your needles for me :)

05 August 2009

FO: Birthday Slippers



Pattern: Amy March Slippers by tiny owl knits [Ravelry link]
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Paris Night (yarn held double)
Needle: US10/6.0mm
Notions: Pale blue double-faced satin ribbon from Fabric.com
Mods: None!

Let's see ... I think this is the fifth time I've made a pair of these. I hope my dear BFF likes them (they should arrive today and, hopefully, give her a belated birthday bit of cheer). Grey is her color, and pale blue is mine. Anyway, this pattern is super quick and easy, and the result is so cute and feminine. My grandmother wore through her orange pair, so there will be another pair showing up here in the next week or so (Grandma's birthday is the 15th). I love doing Judy's Magic Cast-On now and might even knit another pair of toe-up socks some day as a result.

Lots of other knits in the works. I'm hoping to submit a couple of patterns to some of the online knitting magazines, so that's keeping me busy in my quest for World Knit Domination (WKD). So, back to the needles (and yarn and graph paper and pencil and eraser and computer).