Actual Knitting Content!

I auctioned off a hat and scarf for our preschool's annual benefit. A friend had seen my purple Foliage and wanted one just like it, so she bought it! I ended up making it in exactly the same color. Just a note, I contacted both designers and requested permission to use the pattern for a fundraising item, and even though I already owned the Just Enough Ruffles pattern, I repurchased it. Both designers graciously gave me permission to use their patterns to benefit the school.

So, the pattern for the scarf is Just Enough Ruffles. Knit exactly to pattern, so any mods are simply my own errors. I knit this in Malabrigo Worsted in the Jacinto which I ordered online from somewhere, I can't remember where! As always, Malabrigo is *just* delicious! I used my KP Options for this one. I was very nervous about the blocking because it's not a skill I have, really, yet. Need to finish some more lace so I can get more practice, right? :) I ended up steam blocking it. I wet down a cotton pillowcase and placed it over the areas I wanted to block and ironed it. I didn't block the ruffle at all, I liked it really curly!

The hat, is of course, Knitty's delightful Foliage. I seriously love this pattern. I love leaf lace, and this hat is so cleverly constructed! The only modification I made in this one is the same as I made for mine - I knit 2.5 pattern repeats instead of three. I found the lace opened up with wearing and with my original version in the bulky (RIP pretty green hat), it soon became too long. Which is odd because normally hats knit to pattern specs are too short for me, what with having a long, pointy head. *ahem* Not that I'm insecure about it AT ALL.

These are both pretty quick knits, and fun to do. In the process, though, I have (re)learned a valuable lesson which is that while I love to knit for others and give my work away, I do not love knitting for a deadline. In this case, the deadline is internally imposed because my friend was very gracious about taking my time, but I really wanted it done by Christmas. I am going to VT in January and want to have my sister's shawl done by then, and I have some other projects I'm excited about. I also have FOUR socks in flight, so I need to finish those. I just don't like feeling like I *have* to get something done by a specific time. This is not an unusual thing for me, that's my general attitude (though sometimes I think without those deadlines, I'd never have finished graduate school!).

So, we're off to visit my ILs for a few days and I've packed up the knitting - the shawl, and yarn for some felted slippers for the kids and for me (my awesome clogs are just about worn through). I'd like to have it all done so I can felt them in my mom's top loader.

For all those who celebrate, Merry Christmas! For all those who don't, I wish you the joy of the season. I'll have my phone with me, so I'll be posting from Western MA.

And on a knitterly note...

...which I couldn't include in that last post because that was about joy and gratitude and this is about annoyance and frustration. I completely f'ed up the Foliage I'm making. (a) Now that this is as much a gratitude blog as it is a knitting blog, I somehow feel like I shouldn't swear anymore. *heh* (b) The Foliage is for a friend, via the preschool auction (I got permission from the designer to knit it for the auction). I have *no* idea what I did, but on one section, there weren't the YOs needed to separate the leaves, and I was somehow a bunch of stitches short when I hadn't been earlier. WHO KNOWS??? Not me. It's always sad to me how you can rip out 2+ hours of work in about 32 seconds.

I gave up on the hat for now and started Just Enough Ruffles, the scarf that's going to go along with the hat (yes, I got permission from the designer and bought another copy of the pattern). I got the 200 stitches cast on, and about one and a half rows done before I had to go make my family dinner (AGAIN, sheesh, they need to eat EVERY NIGHT). I am trying a slip stitch edge just because I tend to prefer those on scarves.

FO: Trinnit Scarf

Recently, one of my internets lost her fiancé to Neurofibromatosis. I felt called to knit her this scarf, and I'm hoping it can be a sort of hug for her. It sounds odd to talk about the joy I felt knitting this, but I did, and I'm hoping some of that energy is transmitted in the scarf, and might give some comfort in this painful time. Godspeed, P.

And on to the knitting. This is the same 1x1 Noro Silk Garden Scarf that is detailed by Brooklyn Tweed, that many folks around the blogosphere have knit. Here's my humble version.

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, 252 (black/blue) and 282 (green/purple).
Needles: KP Options, size 7, short cord.
Pattern: I did the pattern as set out by Jared. I'm not sure I did it the way everyone else did, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. So, I cast on 39 stitches. I slipped the first stitch purlwise with the yarn held to the back (basically, so I wasn't then bringing the yarn back to start the K stitch between the slipped stitch and the K stitch). I then started with a K stitch, and did the K1 P1 ribbing. When I got to the final two stitches, I did the same stitch twice, so on the "right side" (which starts Sl1, K1), I ended with two K stitches. I then turned the work, Sl1 (with the yarn held towards the front as if to P), P1, rib to the end, and end with two P stitches. To carry the yarn up, I would bring the yarn that I had just knit two rows with to the front, on top (if that makes sense), and sl the first stitch, and then start knitting with the other yarn. I actually would swap the two balls I was using back and forth. Of these two edging pictures, the one on top is the "right side" and the one on the bottom is the "wrong side." (Yes, I'm deliberately using scare quotes because there isn't really a right and wrong side, the right side is just the one where you're starting with the new color.) To finish it, I did the last two rows of the dark and then did the bind-off row.

This was such a fun knit. It was easy enough that I didn't need a pattern, but had enough going on that I had to think a tad, but not so much that I got confused. Yes, my life is such that a 1x1 ribbing scarf really is the right level of complexity for me. I really really hope she likes the colors, as it's so personal, picking out colors for someone, especially when you know them more on-line. I've never understood before what people meant about something just flying off the needles but this did.

I won't mention the fact that I have four more balls in different colors to make one for myself.

And now for something a little different!

I had a moment yesterday to do some knitting. I didn't want to keep working on Monkey because I need to turn the heel and I need a solid hour or so to concentrate and get the whole thing done. I wasn't in the mood to work on my Garter Stitch Blanket, and I need to wind the other skein for the Flat-Top Hat, so I pulled out the Cable Scarf. You know, I really love to cable! It's surprisingly easy and makes such a nice result! This yarn is super soft and nice too: Swish Superwash in Deep Ocean. I thought I was making this scarf for an old friend that I saw at another old friend's wedding this summer, but I changed my mind, and it's going to be for my sweet husband (shh, I don't think he reads this). The old friend threw out the "what are you going to make for me" thing as a joke, but he really won't appreciate the time and effort that's going into this, while my DH surely will. Also, DH bikes to and from work all through the winter, and could use a warm, snuggly scarf. AND the color is perfect for him. I way overbought the yarn, so I can make him a hat too. It's funny, knowing I'm making it for him just makes me enjoy the process even more! I am even, I think, going to block the thing!

Today I am going to try and felt the purple slippers a little more, to get them to fit perfectly. It's chilly enough in here that I do need them now (since we still haven't turned the heat on) and my tootsies are cold. They'll need some time to dry and I'm going to puffy-paint the soles so I don't fall on my bum, since they're rather slippery.

Why am I awake?

My body has this super annoying habit of being unable to return to sleep for several hours, if woken up in the middle of the night. I'd say this has happened 7 of the last 10 nights and I am SICK OF IT. But, I thought I'd blog a bit. Whee! Middle of the night blogging! Better than middle of the night angsting, which is what I usually do, right? Right!

My new favorite sock heel is the afterthought heel, and I haven't even done it yet! We'll see how I feel about it once I actually complete it. I am happy with the sock so far because the striping has stayed in pattern. Hey, here's a question - say you knit one sock, and realize that you don't like something about how you designed it (just, hypothetically speaking, say you knit a sock in self-striping yarn and did a short-row heel and now it bugs you that you didn't do an afterthought heel). When you do the second sock, would you change your design? Which would bug you more - having two socks that are out of striping order, or having two socks that don't technically match? I think I need them to be identical, but I'm not sure.

I have started and ripped out the scarf for my friend about 25 times. It turns out, when I have an idea of what I want to do (a cable knit scarf), substituting all sorts of other things (fake cables, twisted stitch patterns, faggot lace) doesn't work for me. I am not sure why I am surprised by this, as this is completely my personality, but hey, there it is. So yeah, after many more design hours than I anticipated, I just picked a fairly complicated cable, and I'm just doing that. I finished the first set of pattern repeats and I'm fairly happy with it. The cable crossings aren't making me want to poke myself in the eye with a shiny stick, so that's good. The yarn is great, it's KnitPicks Swish in Deep Ocean which shows the pattern really nicely. It even withstood being knit and yanked a LOT without too much pilling. I could see this yarn being a nice sub for the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.

So, I've been having fantasies about dying my own yarn. Shh, don't tell my husband, I think he would be...well, to be honest, he'd be completely amused and supportive because he is the Best Husband Ever, and tends to be supportive, but given the variety of things we have coming up over the next year, I don't think I'm going to have time for this for quite some time.

I also want to learn to spin my own yarn.