Little bits May 18, 2012

I’m back in the saddle knitting for Afghans for Afghans - the current campaign is perfect for summer knitting – hats, mittens, and socks!  So, I began by using up bits of yarn I had dyed for a bunch of socks a couple of summers ago for some mittens:

Oh, and these are done except for thumbs!

And then put in a giganto (for me) order of wool (Cascade 22o and Cascade Eco) from WEBS, taking advantage of their annual sale – Cascade was a bargain compared to the upcoming prices.  Now I’m having fun with color.  These socks are based on a stitch pattern in Sensational Socks:

Since I’m using worsted weight, doing stranded knitting for the foot seemed like it would probably be not very fun to wear, so I just did some color blocking.  And it turns out that in the size I made, I used almost exactly the same amounts of each color.  If the scale can be believed, I can get two pairs of socks out of two skeins of 220.  Not bad!

The slog-knit continues in sloggy fashion.  The back is done, I have just a bit to go on the fronts, and then I can knit the shoulders together and block to see if the size is anywhere near right – I’m a bit concerned that it will be too big.  Maybe that’s why it’s not done – I fear the answer.

Anniversary May 13, 2012

One year ago today, brandy disappeared off the balcony of my apartment, beginning a 23 day sojourn of unknown parts.

Today, she stuck close, and other than hair balls, feels great!

A fun encounter, and a knitting slog May 5, 2012

Last Saturday I got to go to a class at a local LYS with Stephen West, of Westknits fame:

And it was a lovely time — I got to go with a friend, met a podcaster that I listen to (waves to KnittyBarb of 2 Knit Lit Chicks), learn some great tricks about edges and shaping of shawls, see a ton of samples of his shawls, and a couple of hats, fondle the lovely yarns at A Verb for Keeping Warm, and perhaps most extraneously, eat a cupcake with maple flavoring and bacon from the store next door. Seriously, I hardly think a knitting event could get much better! Even the possible traffic woes from some construction near the Golden Gate bridge that we feared might delay us did not materialize.

Out of that event, I think I will be making the pogona shawl out of the other skein of Wollmeise that my lovely blog reader Liesl sent me last summer after the derailed trip to Sock Summit.

Which is a good thing, because I am making another sweater that will likely be much more fun to wear than it is to knit. I’m knitting Hey, Teach! in Rowan Summer Tweed, which, when blocked, has a lovely hand and drape, but in knitting is about as fun as knitting straw.

It reminds me why I seem to have fewer summer sweaters than winter ones – the knitting just isn’t the same tactile experience. While the pattern has you knit it in pieces, I am knitting it in one piece to the armholes, and I’m finally to the point of beginning the ribbing (9.5 inches which will turn into 10 inches after blocking).  It is a slog of a knit, so it is a good thing that I’m a project knitter, because this would be hopeless if I were a process knitter.

Swap goodness April 28, 2012

Yesterday I got a lovely mystery swap package that was organized on the Ravelry board of Laura Nelkins.  I love that this was a very targeted swap – we all filled out an information form on our preferences, and our swap partners looked us up on Ravelry to make sure that our packages would be lovely and appropriate.

Teri did a great job for my package:

And some new to me yarns will be fun to check out too – we were to get a whole skein and some sample amounts to make jewelry out of:

In other news, I am done spinning the small amount (2 oz) of merino-silk, and love how it came out.  I may partner it with another yarn for a project, time will tell.

Return to Spindle April 19, 2012

You would have thought that attending the largest fiber festival in the country would have lit a candle under my spinning. But it didn’t. I spun some BFL that I had already int o another not-sock-yarn, and then the spinning mojo just plain gave out.

No longer. I don’t have anything that I’m dying to knit, so I pulled out some merino- silk fiber from Ellen’s1/2 Pint Farm and got to spinning — it’s 2 oz of luxury, which I’m spinning lace- weight to make a small shawl, but if the spinning goes well, it might get entered into the County Fair here in Marin.

See the prettiness?

And we’re back. April 16, 2012

During all the Easter/Holy Week stuff, the blogging just was not going to happen, what with being at a new church this year and all. But now that we’re past that, I can catch up a bit.

First, I knitted a sweater for me, the Slow Line cardigan. I like how it fits and came out, and with the very cheap yarn from a mill end cone, the whole project probably cost less than $20.

So, the first of the three sweaters I plan to knit is done!

I’ve also been knitting for a couple of babies, and the cute stuff came out pretty well!

Both of the cardigan patterns are free, isn’t that nice? And the hat pattern is a very basic one from Ann Budd’s Handy Patterns book series, with a couple of twists to make them match the cardigans. And baby socks – no biggie, just a simple pattern with a bit of color and/or stitch pattern to match. Check out my Ravelry project page for more details!

But I’m hitting a knitting-blah period. While I have a couple of sweaters planned for me, I’m not all that excited, so it may be back to the spindle (haven’t spun in months) for a bit of a change-up!

The Quick and the Slow and Another Convert March 30, 2012

I love to knit sweaters – my first projects were sweaters, and only later did I branch out to hats, socks, and mittens. Scarves were always on the menu.

The Quick.  Baby sweaters.  SOOOO satisfying.  You get all the fun and it ends quickly and the object of your knitting will not object.  I’m making the garter yoke baby cardi (free- rav link) which is a lovely easy knit, and has some nice finishing touches (unless you’re running out of yarn like I did).  Plus, ton’s of folks have made variations, so check out the projects on Ravelry.

Here’s mine, for a little girl due in June:

The baby will be the first girl after two boys, so Mom requested that I make stuff in pink or purple, no blankets, she has plenty.  I will buy another skein of pink for a hat, and knit or crochet a flower to go on it.

And I have a very cute button for it:

The Slow.  Adult sweaters are not quick.  And especially when knit in fingerweight weight yarn.  The slow line cardigan (Rav link) is a slooooooow knit in fingering weight.  I was feeling ok until I got to the bottom and what seems like endless garter stitch.  But this goes to prove a rule that some knits that are not so fun to knit will be great to wear.  And I appear to only need about another 1 1/2 inches before I go back to the sleeves, which will feel like a snap in comparison.  Izzie appears to be personally inspecting this cardigan at each stage:

BTW, my friend Judy and I have converted someone — to knitting, that is.  We sent her a learn to knit kit of our own devising (thanks, Bluebird Yarn & Fiber) including Addi Turbos, Malabrigo yarn, and some cute notions.  Yes, I know, it’s like starting a new addict on pure cocaine intravenously.  Fortunately her husband has no idea about what we have done.  As we sadly do not live near Aimee  to teach her how to knit, I sent along a Lucy Neatby DVD “The Brand New Knitter,” which is meant for someone who never has held needles in their hands before.  Besides learning from such a cool knitter, she got a shout-out from Lucy via twitter on her 1st day of knitting – how yarn-tastic is that?

Aimee is knitting a hat in the round at the moment and loves it – you can ask her how it’s going on twitter:  @aimeesblog.

Next step:  Make sure she joins Ravelry to join the other addicts  to meet and discover a fiber community.

Sweater Kick March 17, 2012

I have been knitting a lot of things for other people.  And while that is a good thing, I really want to knit for me. In  checking the knitwear in the closet I find:  plenty of socks, including a couple of pairs to go into rotation; lot’s of scarves, shawlettes, and cowls, more than I have time to wear.  I’m also good on hats.

So, it’s time for the spring sweater kick.  I’ve got three sweaters planned:

Slow Line.  I bought some fingering weight wool on a cone from WEBS at a ridiculously low price.  This is a simple, no seaming sweater that I hope will be a good transitional one through to summer.  In a neutral brown, I’ll be able to wear it with just about everything.

I’ve finished the collar, and the yoke and  I’m liking it. Perfect TV knitting!  And Izzie seems to approve too:

Hey Teach.  Here, I’ll be using some Rowan Summer Tweed that I’d originally saved for another use, and will do 3/4 length sleeves.  Now, it’ll be another good layering piece, and this yarn, while it feels harsh when you knit it, drapes beautifully post-blocking.

Grande Plage Cardigan.  I’ve got a lot of extra sock yarn leftover, particularly in some Madeline Tosh Sock.  The chevrons a la Missoni are in style, so again, I’ve got plans for a cardigan!  The pattern says it is great for handspun (not so much, in my opinion), but I love the idea of stash busting! See the colors I’ve got?

Garter Yoke Baby Cardi.  No, this isn’t for me, but a very versatile baby sweater that I found some great washable wool for.

Question time! – one commenter noted how young my mom looks for 90 (and she does!), and wondered what her secret is.  It’s free:  don’t go out in the sun.  Yeah, that simple.  I’ve gotten more sun than she has, so I don’t expect to look quite as good should I make it to a similar age.

How to Turn 90 February 27, 2012

Last month, my mom, Helen, turned 90, much to her own astonishment (although in truth she’d been bragging about how she was going to do this since she turned 89). She never thought she’d make it this long.

When you turn 90, a series of celebrations is better than trying to do everything in one day.  So really, when you turn 90, mhy Mom and I recommend that this begin a year-long set of celebrations.

My mom and I began with a Tom Lehrer review a couple of weeks before her birthday (the show ended before her birthday).  Mom and Dad had all of Tom Lehrer’s records, so going to see “Tom Foolery” was a dream choice for her.  We had front-row seats in the cabaret set-up for the small regional theater (Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma, CA).  It was very fun, and all the cult fans were out in force. We even sang in the parking lot afterwards some of the songs that didn’t make the cut — how completely nerdy is that? Here’s a taste by another production:

The family celebration was not as large as I had hoped – schedules were difficult for some of our family and friends, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have a great time.  I know I look completely drunk in one of the photos, but that was not the case.  My cousin, Marie (mom’s niece), her husband, Dennis, and one of her daughters, Rachel, joined in the celebration.  We missed seeing Allison and her partner Eban, because Allison got sick.

We had very chocolate vegan cake (with the vegan’s in the family, it made it a bit healthier), and the candles had flames in the colors of the candles – very fancy!

All in all, a good time was had, as we looked at family photos, and found the really embarrassing ones.  No, I am not posting them here!

Then, on the day itself, Mom had a party with her friends at Drake Terrace, including dancing, and party favors and cake that I supplied.  You’ll see below that both the staff and residents have some moves!

But as I said, the partying will continue.  Some family friends from Southern California want to make it up to visit, and Marie has promised to take Mom to a show, so there is definitely more to come.

And when, hopefully in the distant future, my Mom goes into the next dimension, she wants us to play this song, sung here by Tom Lehrer himself:

Why I Knit for Afghanistan February 18, 2012

A couple of weeks ago this article was published in the New York Times, about internal refugee camps within Afghanistan, and how children, including a young infant, died in the cold.  It’s enough to break any person’s heart to think about. The follow-up article tells the story about hapzarard efforts to respond to these people, while not perfect, at least people are making the effort.

Ten years on from the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, it’s hard to realize that for most people in Afghanistan, things are either the same or worse.  I don’t have any real solutions to the whole war and the sides there, given the complexiities of the balance of powers, the so-called American partners, Pakistan, etc.  These are frankly beyond my time and understanding.

Therefore, I knit.  Over the years, I’ve probably knit over 100 items for Afghans for Afghans.  There’ve been a couple of blankets, lot’s of sweaters, and a few hats thrown in.  The ones I’ve documented are included in my Ravelry A4A project page.  I knit because at least I can assure some children and youth (and a few adults) that someone in America cares enough to provide them something I would be proud to have anyone in my family wear.  At least I can do something for the poor and the ones who are in need, even though there’s no New York Times article being written about their particular situation.

So far, for the Afghans for Afghans campaign that is coming to a close, I’ve completed less this time (starting a new job cut into the knitting time), but tried out some new things.  First up, a bunch of pretty standard toe-up socks:

And then I decided to do a standard sweater a la Ann Budd, but with a shawl collar in a pullover:

And Brandy did her usual inspection of the knitwear:

With the leftovers, I also did a vest with simple two rows of striping:

And Brandy did another “inspection”!

And now I’m taking those leftovers, along with a skein of worsted wool in taupe, and doing a steeked vest with stripes.
Here’s the vest done with the knitting complete:

and with the steeks crocheted (I used Eunny Jang’s quick and dirty tutorial for doing them)

and with the steeks cut:

Since then I’ve sewn the shoulders, and now I’m blocking everything before doing the armholes and ribbing.