Yarn Dreams

I want to finish up a few of the projects I’ve had sitting around since last year, before I started manically knitting D’sCS (I’m so tired of talking about it – I’m sure you’re tired of reading about it!).

This hat was only a few rows away from being finished when it was chucked into the black hole of my UFO basket.

This is Marnie Mclean’s Halley’s Comet Hat with a major twist. Whenever it was that I started this hat, I didn’t feel like working from the top down since fiddling with four stitches on three dpns isn’t my idea of fun.

I started at the brim and working the two row lace repeat upside down. As in, I worked the chart so the pattern came out the same as it would have if I knit it top down. I had major issues when it came to the comet lace motif at the crown. I tried and tried to re-chart it to be knit from the bottom up, but it never came out right. Tell me, is this not possible or was I majorly missing something??

Eventually I gave up and continued the lace pattern up the crown, and decreased quickly in the last two rows. I love how it turned out and it fits well.

(I really want to get one of those foam head things for photos.)

The other notable thing about this hat is that it is made from the last ball of Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al from my Something Red sweater. I used all but the last few inches of it up – very satisfying.

Or as I’ve titled it on Ravelry, the “I’ve Never Seen This Movie” Mittens. (I am working on the assumption that the movie is “Twilight”.) Do they have some significance? Who knows – I just loved the pattern.

Not too much to say about these. I used two skeins of Berroco Peruvia Quick yarn that I purchased from WEBS at Stitches Midwest last year. I followed the pattern exactly and they fit perfectly.

The only thing that was slightly fiddly was trying to cross the cables without a cable needle on wooden dpns with bulky yarn knit at a tight gauge. But it wasn’t that bad and they were such a fast knit.

When I finished Dad’s sweater for the second time, I had to wait a week or so before we would be together for him to try it on. When he (bravely, in 85° and humid weather) tried it on it was obvious that the sleeves were now too short, and the neck was a little snug. Eep!! I panicked for a split second before I remembered that I hadn’t blocked it yet.

Blocking wool really is an amazing thing to witness. You can almost transform things into brand new garments. Once blocked, it fit perfectly and was even softer than before. Here’s a final model shot:

(He loves it. This is his ‘picture’ smile.)

I wanted to make a special label so decades in the future it would be known that I made this for him. (Hmm.. that sounds a little conceited when I see it written out.) I came up with the idea to embroider a wide piece of grosgrain ribbon and sew it near the bottom side seam of the sweater.

(The red blob is a heart.)

My embroidery skill were much more lacking than I imagined. I guess looking at patterns, reading booking, and listing designs you want to make don’t really count as practice. But I still love it and I think it adds a little charm. Just hopefully not in a kindergarten sort of way.

Can you tell how excited I am to have this project done?! Six months after Christmas, what a terrible daughter I am. hehehe.

Technically I knitted 1.75 sweaters to get this final product. The first time was actually finished before Christmas but since I wanted it to be a surprise I had a feeling I would have to rip back and do some adjusting for size. And I did. But by that time I was sooo tired of looking at it (and was also working on some paper projects) that I let it sit for months before I actually ripped the yoke out. And then it sat in a small heap in pieces because again I couldn’t bear to look at it.

When I did finally pick it up again (out of guilt, mostly), I just had to shortened the sleeves by about an inch and re-knit the yoke on a size smaller needle. I think I knitted the yoke in three days the first time around – it took me weeks this time. I have no idea how I did it so quickly before. So that’s 1.5 sweaters knit.

The other .25 is in the the four different collars I had to knit and rip out to end up with one that wasn’t too loose and sloppy or too tight. Like me, my Dad can’t stand anything tight or constricting on clothing. A good way to torture us would be to force us to wear turtlenecks (shutter).

The yarn is Berroco Blackstone Tweed and it’s my new favorite yarn. It has a nice rustic look to it but is so soft. I really want to make a sweater for myself for it, and hubby has requested one too. (?! requested a sweater? Could it be true?)

I am going to see him this weekend and will hopefully be able to get a model shot of him wearing it.

So… Yay! Finished!!

What’s next? A few quick and easy instant gratification projects.

So I noticed a while ago that Wordpress seems to have eaten my blogroll links. Not only are they not showing up on my site, they are no longer stored online. Shoot. I have no idea exactly how long they’ve been gone, but I feel very out of touch with the blogging world. My memory is such that I remember that I used to follow a bunch of knitting and other blogs, but I don’t remember which ones. I know Ravelry has somewhat killed the knitblogging community, but I also know lots of you are still out there!

I’d love to build up my list again, as well as find new blogs to read, so if you’d like leave a link to your site or some of your favorites in the comments below, I’d appreciate it. =)

During the last few weeks I have had an irresistible urge to spin some yarn. I haven’t done any spinning in a while, since last year, since I have been working on other projects and didn’t want to “drag” my wheel out into the middle of them. (Incidentally, this is also why I have a huge pile of sewing projects waiting in my closet on top of my sewing machine case.)

But my desire to spin won out over my desire not to feel buried in things to do and my wheel has been in the living room ever since. My hubby could care less, as long at it not blocking the TV. I’ve spun two braids of fiber so far*:

This Spunky Eclectic Club Fiber, which is a gorgeous naturally dark BFL with some rich colors added:

a singles yarn, about DK weight, about 350 yards I think

and this Montadale wool fiber from Esther’s Place and the Illinois Wool Co-Op:

two ply, heavy worsted weight, not sure on yardage yet

I really loved spinning the Montadale fiber. It seems to be kind of a rare find and I think I am going to have to go back to Esther’s Place to find more. I have some ideas of what I want to spin next both in regards to fibers and styles of spinning. I want to try a three-ply sock weight yarn, a two-ply lace weight yarn, and a bulky singles yarn. “Try” being the operative word in there, since nothing I’ve ever spun has really turned out as I planned yet. Still need more practice!!

I’ve also been plugging away on Dad’s Christmas Sweater. I am almost to the second and final set of neck shaping short rows. It it going sooo muuuuuch slooower the second time around. I think I finished the entire yoke in the three days before Christmas. Of course, that’s probably why it look so much better this time around!

And a little hint: if you are knitting a garment for someone as a surprise and you know that you are going to have to rip it out to get the fitting right, do not weave in all of your ends, especially the kitchener under the arms, to the very best of your ability. It will take forever to find and pick them out. I know this from experience.

*Sorry for the lousy blurry, flashy photos. We haven’t had much sun lately, and I never remember to take photos while it’s out.

Is everyone else as happy as I am that spring has finally hit the midwest? We have even had a number of 80°F days already, although I could do without those.

Despite the warm weather we had a frost just last week and I haven’t planted any in my gardens yet. I am going to scale is back slightly from last year since the main garden doesn’t get enough direct sunlight during the day to make some of the plants happy. We are either going to put in a raised bed or add new soil since I’m sure the poor soil quality played a role in the stunted plant growth. It was all just an experiment last year! This year, I think I am going to stick to the basics: a few varieties of tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers, maybe an eggplant and a pumpkin or squash.

I received the new issue of Interview Knits in the mail yesterday, and there are a number of patterns I would like to make. It may be enough of a spark to get me knitting regularly again. I started to think about all of the yarn/pattern combos I have in my stash and how much I really would like to wear them. I think that proves that I’m a “product” knitter! I’ve never been sure before now.

I am busy tonight and tomorrow, but starting Thursday I am going to settle myself on the couch and knit all night. I really should start by finished my Dad’s sweater…

Steve and I decided that we needed a long weekend away to break up the endless weeks of work and almost-but-not-really-springtime we were trudging through.

A quick, inexpensive weekend trip always takes us back to Iowa City, where I lived for eight years. It still feels like home every time I return. The best part of the trip was the amazing weather and the abundance of fresh, clean air.

The IC is over a three hour drive from where we live now and I wanted a small knitting project to work on in the car that wouldn’t require much thought or concentration. (This would not be my Dad’s sweater. Yes, I feel guilty.) I started a pink top down baby sweater which will probably go to a little girl soon to be born into a family of three boys. I picked a pima cotton/silk blend yarn out of my stash and it felt so good to be knitting again. By the time we got home Sunday night, I had the yoke and almost one sleeve finished. (An aching right wrist slowed me down more than hoped.)

Our time in IC (Coralville, actually) went too quickly as usual. The list of things to do consisted mostly of places to eat but I also managed to do a little damage at the yarn store down there street from where I used to live (sigh) and at the scrapbook/paper store in the same complex, where I shopped for wedding invitation supplies over five years ago.

My only minor disappointed came when my camera battery died in the middle of photographing signs in downtown IC, for a collage project idea using the various letters. Here is a small (and rough) sampling of some of the letters:

I can’t wait to go back, possibly with a better camera, to finish my plan.

I can’t wait to go back, period!

Even though I have been knitting some over the last few months, it is nothing like the marathon sessions I used to have. I would really like to get back to knitting more (when I can tear myself away from other recently acquired hobbies), but I do think this break has done me some good.

Not only is my mind clearer on what projects are important and which I don’t really want to do, but my hands don’t ache constantly anymore.

And that my friends, is a good thing. As much as I want to get back to knitting, I know I have to keep it at a sane level and not push myself so hard to “just finish this real fast!”.

Because after all, what is a hobby worth if it is not fun?

I promised months ago that I would share the Cobblestone Pullover I made for my Dad for Christmas. It was a hush-hush project, because I didn’t want him to have any idea that I was knitting him anything, let alone a sweater.

The problem with it being a total surprise is that I knew the fit wasn’t going to be perfect. My Mom helped by taking about a dozen measurements from one of his best fitting sweaters, but since the Cobblestone has a round yoke and none of his sweaters did… it wasn’t exact. The yoke itself is a little too long, the neck is too wide, and the sleeves are a little too long. (I lengthened them from the pattern since he is tall but apparently I didn’t stop knitting until they were gorilla length.)

Here is a photo of the finished (1st time around) sweater, and a less then flattering but cute pic of my Dad opening it Christmas morning.

After months of what felt like non-stop knitting, I just couldn’t touch it for a while – let alone rip it apart. So it sat in a sad heap in my knitting bag, mocking me to just finish it already. So in February I got up the nerve to rip the yoke out, and ended up the three separate pieces again. (Body and two sleeves.) The idea of working on it again after finishing once makes my tired, but the thought of knitting something new makes me feel guilty, so I don’t knit anything. I pick it up every night and look at it, but can’t find the energy to pickup all those stitches and calculate for the smaller yoke I want to make.

(It’s making me tired just typing this.)

BUT. I really want my Dad to have this sweater. It’s probably going to be too warm for him to wear this season still, but at least it will be ready and waiting for next fall.

I am setting a goal for myself. It will be finished (2nd time) by April 11, two weekends from now. Or else it might never happen.

As a little motivation for that “Never Give Up” spirit, here is Reggie attempting to sleep on his favorite chair even after I’ve piled it up with junk.