Knitterly Pursuits

President's Day Upload

2008-02-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

Seeing as I had the entire day to myself today, I took advantage of the empty house and photographed my many finished and not-so-finished projects of the past few months.

The socks, 4 pairs, 2 single socks.

Other projects are uploaded onto the flickr and ravelry pages, to be added here in due time... maybe over the next holiday weekend.

New Kicks

2008-02-11T12:18:00.002-08:00

To combat a bit of irritation at work a few weeks back, I decided to spend a few minutes shopping for shoes online. A co-worker had told me about piperlime.com, a new online shoe retailer owned by The Gap/Banana Republic/Old Navy but selling regular, name-brand shoes. The bonus? You can use your GapCard and accumulate those dollars they send back once you hit a certain amount. For someone who shops almost exclusively at The Gap*, this is fantastic!

Anyway, the point of this is to reveal my new sneaks, the perfect pair of shoes for any knitter. Behold, Sweater Keds!!

Oh hey there

2007-11-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

It appears as though I haven't written here since late June. My goodness, quite a bit has happened since then!

~ Got a job in medical communications (see ya later research science!)
~ Moved to NJ for said job
~ Boyfriend moved with me and got himself a job down here
~ Finally bring home a living wage
~ Went to a few Red Sox games
~ RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!
~ Spent a weekend in Baltimore
~ Spent a weekend in Philadelphia
~ Spent a couple of weekends back in Boston
~ Worked far less than ever before while accomplishing far more

What does all of this mean for you? Nothing really. But I do have entirely too much free time for knitting and dispensable cash for yarn stuffs so maybe it means actual posts in this here space. For those of you on ravelry, I'm slowly uploading projects in various states of undone and hopefully pictures will follow (not anytime soon since I get home long after night falls). For those of you not on ravelry, pictures will go up on flickr and maybe I'll get moving on updates here.

We shall see.

Almost an FO

2007-06-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

Just a few days of knitting and I finished the clapotis that was languishing in the WIP basket* for the past few months. Guess what? I hate it!! The pattern specs say the finished length should be 55in. Mine is 48in. A completely useless length. But all is not lost. Maybe a severe blocking will help.

The specs:
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: KnitPicks Memories in the Fly Fishing colorway (a hideous combination of blue, brown and green)

Next week I will actually have something pretty to show. Let's just say I have official succumbed to the siren call of hand painted sock yarn. What a luxury.

* In preparation for a pending move I've been cleaning out the apartment and packing. Guess what I found? Several moth nests, one of which was IN THE KNITTING BASKET. Not just in the basket but covering a skein of ACRYLIC yarn. The one skein of yarn that didn't get properly stored in a sealed bag once I realized the scope of the moth problem. I found yet another nest in a pair of wool socks in my dresser... a drawer that hasn't been opened since I moved into this apartment 16 months ago. Hopefully this marks the end of my moth problem. Every other affected item of clothing (including all wool coats) has been removed.

Baby steps

2007-06-13T19:55:00.001-07:00

These days even the smallest amount of progress is something to celebrate. The old projects have been getting a little bit of attention this week. I started (and finished!!) this socks AGES ago. So long ago I don't even remember. It might be the first thing I ever knit by magic loop! Yesterday I took it out to take a few pictures for ravelry and realized the ends were never even woven in. So sad. Now it's completely finished and awaiting a partner. Let's not discuss the fact that I probably don't have enough yarn for a second sock.

This is the garter rib sock from Sensational Knitted Socks knit using KnitPicks Essential in some gray color. One of these days I'lll man-up and use my delicious hand painted sock yarn instead of these boring KnitPicks yarns. I do enjoy the machine washable aspect though.

It was an FO, if only for a minute

2007-06-11T07:22:00.001-07:00

This weekend I finally forced myself to get back into knitting and work on the long languishing pile of WIPs, all neatly packed away in plastic bags. I made progress on a project from the lovely Fitted Knits book but, low and behold, it was too small. Late last night I hooked it up to the ball winder and let it rip. Being made of Lamb's Pride yarn (15% mohair content) made for tough unknitting and the yarn is now all pilled and nasty. Hopefully I can salvage it with a quick wash because I really do want to start this project again in a larger size.

Here's a wee close-up of what it looked like before finishing and before being taken apart...

Now I have to find yet another old project to work on this week. Maybe I'll actually finish those baby cable socks that have been hogging my tiny circ for the past few months.

Long time no knit

2007-05-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

The past several months have been consumed by writing and defending my graduate dissertation so the knitting was placed on long-term hiatus. Now that I'm finished with graduate school (finally), in possession of a PhD and unemployed, I have all kinds of time for the knitting. The only problem is that I keep starting new projects and dropping them for something new within a week. Once I find a moment of project monogamy, I'll start posting regularly again. I hope.

In lieu of knitting content, check out Ravelry. It's an amazing organization/discussion/fiber community. I was somehow lucky enough to get a beta tester membership but it should be open to the public around mid May. You can also send out an email to request a membership before then (check the sidebar on the website).

Here's a screen-shot of my project page. If you head over there and find me you can see what projects I've been working on during the past few weeks. Hopefulyl I'll be blogging about them all soon.

Yarn pr0n

2007-02-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

It's like Christmas in February! Especially since the money spent on this little splurge came to me on Christmas day in the form of generous gift checks that I finally deposited last week... and immediately spent. Forget the fact that my winter-ish boots are, quite literally, falling apart and my favorite (ie, the only presentable pair) pair of jeans are faded beyond recognition. Anyway. Today I received two Destash packages.

Noro Iro. Three skeins bought at a significant bargain.

Can you believe it's too sunny for a good photograph? The darker skein on the bottom right is closest to true color. It's a mix of purple, black, white and burgundy. Not exactly what I expected but still gorgeous. And sooooo amazingly soft! I truly love this and it came at the perfect time. I was looking at Iro for a specific project but decided against it based on the cost. Now I can use it!

Dale Tiur. Seven balls (3 white; one each red, orange, green and blue). These are slated for trials in colorwork.

This yarn was packaged very poorly for the mail and the envelope was completely ripped open. The mailman put it down in a pile of rocksalt on my stairs with the red ball hanging out of the package, ON THE STAIRS. Ugh. A few of the balls got dirty but hopefully they will survive. This yarn is delightfully soft and cushy. I really can't wait to try my hand at mittens.

Looks like I have some work to do. Next week the KnitPicks package should arrive, full of needles and yet another box of yarn (10 balls, oh my). It's official. I have a stash.

Baby Cable WIP, still unfinished

2007-02-08T10:45:00.000-08:00

The knitting has, for the most part, taken a hiatus so I can concentrate on more important (and totally boring) things. Every few nights I work on a few rows of the second baby cable sock. At this rate, I'll be finished by next winter. Besides that, nothing on the needles. I have many projects in mind and read obsessively during writing breaks but I can't bear to start anything, knowing it will sit around, getting dusty and covered in cat hair over the next few months.

The spring Interweave Knits came in the mail today and it's looking good. I'm not a huge fan of the redesign (it now looks almost exactly like Vogue Knitting) but I'll get used ot it. I've never even knit anything from a magazine anyway, I just like flipping through.

Other plans include the Thermal sweater designed by cosmicpluto. I love it oh so much! But tiny yarn on tiny needles make for a loooooong process. Again, It will be finished by next winter, if I'm lucky. I ordered up the yarn this week along with set of KnitPicks Options needles so I never have to buy another pair. Ever. I also added a few long circulars in small sized for Magic Loop-ing of socks. The circs I'm now using are way too short an quickly getting warped and ruined.

There are a few other things in my head and plenty of packages en route to my apartment. I really hope the IRS gets my tax return deposited right quick. Otherwise, my overdraft gets a serious work-out.

Sell me your stash!

2007-02-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

Baby cable sock #1: complete.
Baby cable sock #2: barely begun.

I started another project in between the two socks and then, of course, ripped it out. So, last night I started the second baby cable sock because I already have two other lonely sock without partners and I felt sorry for them. It's progressed about 2 inches. Fascinating, I know.

For now, I really need to step away from Destash because my little fingers have a habit of clicking BUY without consulting the brain (and bank account). I got a couple of great deals so the guilt is minimal.

Baby Cable Sock WIP

2007-01-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

Remember that post from the other day? The one about the maths? Here's proof of my complete ineptitude...

But it fits! I swear!

This is probably my favorite sock to date. The pattern is simple enough that I don't have to concentrate and knits up quickly. I'm already past the heel and finished with the gusset decreases so it should be finished in just a few days (assuming I don't get bogged down with foreign movies on the NetFlix). The pattern is Baby Cable from Sensational Knitted Socks using KnitPicks Essential in Grass (same as my Kew socks).

This sock also double as a convenient beer cozy!

On maths and simple addition

2007-01-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

So, there was this one time, when this girl was knitting a sock. And it was a delightful little sock. And she tried it on. The sock was snug even though the previous sock, made with the same number of stitches, the same yarn and the same exact needles was super loose. And the girl thought whatever, it fits good enough. So this girl kept on knitting and knitting and tried the sock on again. Still tight but still fits okay. When she rearranged the stitches to continue knitting she counted. And she counted again. And she realized the sock was actually eight stitches smaller than the previous sock. Eight! And then the girl remembered casting on for this sock, counting the stitches, and dropping eight stitches from the needles because she had cast on eight too many. Turns out she counted eight too many but the number was really right on.

So there's this girl who can't count to 72 and doesn't notice glaring errors until a full 5 inches into the cuff of a sock. I blame play-off football.

The sock fits just fine anyway.

Because I totally have time for another hobby.

2007-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

It's here! Last weekend my parents were kind enough to drive the sewing machine out to my apartment and today I finally had a chance to snap a few pictures.

Doesn't it look like a UFO? I think so.

No bells & whistles on this baby; everything is analog.

Sorry for the lack of content lately (yes, Sam, I do read your comments). I'm writing dissertation from my last 7 years worth of research and the final product is due sooner than I care to think about. Thank goodness for double spacing and enormous margins. You'd be surprised how quickly the pages add up.

Sock knitting is proceeding as usual but I ripped out the green Jaywalkers. What can I say? I'm fickle these days. I started the Pomatomus socks from Knitty but they look awful. Why on earth would someone put yarn-overs at the join between needles? I have huge gaping spaces at the joins. Other than that, the sock is gorgeous. Of course, it will be ripped out as well and possibly restarted by Magic Loop, once I have US2 circs that are bendy enough. Yet another sock has been turned at the heel and the gusset decreases finished. Stay tuned.

Baby's First KAL

2007-01-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

After the failed projects of late I was feeling low and dejected. Oh woe was me. But then I came across a Knitalong that totally suits my needs and desires. The Green Sock-a-Long! I just happen to have green sock yarn sitting around, waiting for a project (some left-over from the Kew lace socks plus an extra ball). Just the other day I cast(ed?) on for a pair of Jaywalkers using magical Magic Loop. The socks I started the other day are tragically too small (no, I don't want to talk about it) but I've already tried this pair on and everything is go, so far.

Yes, it's another Jaywalker. Sue me.

Check out the flickr page for green socky goodness.

Who said you can't get nothing for free?

2007-01-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Last year (heh heh) I made a comment on Sweet Georgia and somehow won a contest! Imagine my surprise! The day after Christmas a package arrived in the mail and I opened it to find the most gorgeous hand dyed superwash merino sock yarn in a delightful blue colorway (Marina). How did she know blue is my most favorite color?!

This picture does not remotely do the yarn justice.
It is truly stunning.

It feels so delicious and squishy. I really can't wait to knit up a beautiful new pair of socks!

Heed. Pants. Now!

2007-01-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Remember the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer, when Mike Myers played the crotchety old Scottish dad who constantly referred to his son's giant head? Yeah. That's kind of how I feel today. I managed to knit almost an entire hat during the Patriots game. I tried it on before starting the decreases but had no idea just how fast the decreasing round would go.

Let's all keep in mind this was my first hat ever.
What the heck did I know?

It might fit my teddy bear. Or my fat cat.

I knew it. I just knew it would be too short. So I ripped it out; carefully at first, with the intent of adding a few pattern repeats to make it taller. But then I thought, eff it, and tore the offending thing apart.

Stupid giant head. At least the Patriots had a good day.

Bring it on

2007-01-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

It's official, I can Magic Loop!

One quick look at the knittinghelp.com video and I as ready to give it a shot. I'm using an old ball of KnitPicks self-striping sock yarn that was originally purchased for a baby sweater. The sweater was a big fat loser so the yarn will now become a sock. I'm not a fan of the colorway or stripey socks but I did not want to use 'good' yarn, just in case I screwed it up. But magic loop so easy! It's less fiddly and transportable. Plus, my hands aren't feeling as crampy and sore after a stretch of knitting.

The pattern is Jaywalker by Grumperina. I substituted a garter stitch top instead of the ribbing because I think it suits the pattern better (and I hate doing ribbing).

Knitting for the new year

2007-01-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

My personal resolutions are written down elsewhere but I do have knitting-specific goals for the new year:

1. Learn color knitting. Specifically, I really want to make a pair of colorwork mittens a la Hello Yarn and Eunny Jang. These will also be my first pair of mittens. I made a pair of Fetching mitts some time ago but I just don't like them.

2. Learn magic loop and apply the technique to sock knitting and hats. I haven't even tried this yet but I think it will help me out a whole lot. I don't have a large collection of dpns and the circular needle set I just bought this weekend doesn't include cables short enough for hat knitting. Thus, magic loop! This goal includes knitting my first hat. For some reason I just haven't made one yet, despite my desperate need for a new one! The hat I've been wearing is borderline embarrassing and I actually found it on the ground somewhere. Funny, I have two hats that were found on the ground or in a women's bathroom. Nasty!

3. The real resolution is to carefully think about projects before beginning. Yarn, pattern, guage, and the big one... WILL I (or the giftee) ACTUALLY WEAR IT? I already have far too many finished projects sitting around that are never used or worn. They're just cluttering up my tiny little apartment and making me feel like a big fat failure. Let's not talk about the felted bags waiting for a lining (I even have the fabric and thread).

4. Not knitting related but I received my great grandmother's sewing machine for Christmas so I guess I should go ahead and learn how to sew. Pictures to follow when I lug the thing back to my apartment. It's one of the old school machines in a big table. Thing weighs about 100 pounds. No joke!

Giftmas Knits

2006-12-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I just couldn't cope with the issues I had with My So-Called Scarf. The wrong side looked hideous, especially on the p2tog edge and the length was way too short. So it was hooked up to the ball winder and ripped apart. Not an easy task with Malabrigo.

The yarn ended up as a ribbed scarf that I can't seem to find again. Of course, I also forgot to take a picture. The new scarf has a much nicer drape and a slip-stitch selvedge so the edges are neat. But it's still way too short. Oh well, off to my sister it went.

I also forgot to take pictures of the other Giftmas presents except for the Irish Hiking Scarf. The boyfriend appears to love it and wears it every day. The cables came out beautifully even though I changed my cabling method at least twice along the way. Turns out I really dislike cabling; it's just too fussy.

Now, I need a scarf for myself!!

WiOW: IHS

2006-12-13T10:17:00.000-08:00

I don't have time for posting anything of length right now but have been faithfully knitting away on Christmas gifts (and buying back-up gifts just in case I don't finish the knitted ones). The recipient of this may wander through these parts so I'll keep things secretive for now. So, without further ado, I present a Secret Present in lovely sepia tones!

WiOW: Wavy Scarf

2006-12-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

I hereby declare Wednesdays to be WIP It Out Wednesdays or, WiOW, for short. Why? Because I can. So, every Wednesday I'll try to post about a Work In Progress. Luckily, I have a pile of unfinished projects sitting around that are perfect for this purpose. Most of them are hideous and will eventually be ripped apart or tossed in the trash (seriously, it's that bad). But for today I have something lovely, albeit simple to show.

Right now I'm working on a few scarves for Christmas gifts. I never really got into the beginner scarf thing when I started knitting a few years back so this has been a nice introduction to what beginners are supposed to work on for learning purposes. I went straight to felted bags and leg warmers, none of which have been finished completely or ever used. These days I try to be more careful to select projects that I know I will wear or I will be proud to give to someone else.

The sun was out this weekend so I snapped a few photos of the Wavy scarf from knitty. I really adore this pattern. It's so simple but looks so much more complicated to the non-knitter's eye. I'm using Cascade 220 for the first time and had such a hard time choosing a color. The options were seemingly endless. Of course, I also had a tough time finding two skeins from the same color lot. Such is life.

So that's it for the first WiOW. This scarf will be finished within a few days so I'll have an 'in use' photo soon. Stay tuned next week for the Ribbon Yarn Bag of Doom!

FO: My So-Called Scarf

2006-11-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

This past fall I went to the Boston Knit-Out where I was handed a coupon for my local LYS which I, of course, had to use immediately. So I trekked a few blocks to the store and elbowed my way through the crowds of women who had also received the coupon but probably don't have the chance to shop at Windsor Button every single day on the way home from work. It was absolute mayhem. Once I found my way to the back of the store, I picked up one skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and one skein of Malabrigo in delicious Bobby Blue. But what was I to do with the Malabrigo? I took it to a bar for drinks with friends and sat there petting the skein, forcing everyone else to touch it. But once I was home, it was stuffed into a ziplock bag where it sat for months.

On Thanksgiving morning, before driving to my parent's house, I decided it was time to open up the bag and let my delicious yarn breathe. I spent an hour winding it into a ball. (For some reason it was all felted to itself and tangled.) Then I casted on for the infamous My So-Called Scarf. The scarf was completed in two days of solid knitting over the holiday weekend. It was the perfect project for television watching or chatting with a friend over (very late night) drinks.

The length isn't shown in these pictures because I'm still not sure if I'm 100% happy. I used just the one skein and the scarf is a bit shorter than I prefer. I might eventually pick up another skein and add about one foot of length before packing it up as a Christmas gift. And then, once the fury of holiday knitting is finished, I'll make one for myself!

FO: Kew socks

2006-11-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

Behold! My first pair of knit socks!

I finished the Kew socks (pattern here) in time for Socktoberfest but my camera mysteriously broke* but now all is well with the world and I can post away.

The specs...
Yarn: KnitPicks Essential in Grass
Needles: KnitPicks US1 dpns. A word of warning, KnitPicks US1 and US2 needle sizes are not the standard mm sizes. This was fine with US1 but I tried knitting with the US2s for another pair of socks and the gauge was way off.
Changes to pattern: None that I can recall. Every row of the leaf pattern requires slipping one stitch to the next needle all the way around. This was hugely annoying and I forgot once or twice so the leaves don't completely line up. The mistake wasn't too obvious to require fixing, thankfully. I'm still no expert at tinking back to mistakes in lace. Actually, this was my first ever lace project (and first pair of socks). I did two and 1/2 pattern repeats for the foot and added 1/2 inch of stockinette before beginning the toe decreases. This adjustment resulted in a perfect fit for my foot and kept the integrity of the pattern.

The pictures...

The color in this picture is pretty much accurate. Unfortunately there is no natural light in the Northeast this week so the flash was required, even at 9AM.

The lace pattern opened up beautifully on the foot but not so much on the ankle. Either I have much smaller ankles than the knitty model or these need a good block (not gonna happen).

These have already been worn and washed twice and seem to have held up extremely well. I washed them in the machine on delicate with a load of sweaters and two of my sweaters exploded lint onto everything in the wash. Conveniently, the batteries in my sweater shaver died the same day. Coincidence? Overall I was very happen with this pattern. There was only one small error in a stitch count calculation but it was no big thing.

*Confession: The camera didn't really break, per se. The batteries died and I had no idea how to recharge them. Turns out when the camera was gifted to me the charger was lost somewhere in my parent's house. But it has now been retrieved and the mystery of the broken camera solved.

WIP: Kew socks

2006-10-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

This week the bonus knitty patterns came online and I immediately casted on for the Kew Socks. I don't like the socks all that much (sensing a pattern here?) but the design is one that works for my beginner sock knitting issues (ie, I can only figure out top down patterns with a heel flap) and I wanted to try my hand at a lace pattern.

The first sock is coming along nicely. I'm just about finished; only half a pattern repeat remains (12 rows) before the toe shaping decreases begin.

The leaf pattern is quite nice but, as you will see when they are finished, it makes for a very loose-fitting sock. I wonder if there's a way to take out one leaf to tighten up the circumference of the sock. Maybe I'll just gift them to someone with larger ankles.

FO: Ball Band Washcloths

2006-10-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

This past summer I was in a knitting funk but wanted to rejuvenate the knitting with a small project. I wanted something small in size, relatively inexpensive, simple but not mind-numbing, and suitable for warm weather knitting. Enter the Ball Band Dishcloth, also found in Mason Dixon Knitting. The pattern can be found here, listed as Textured Slip Stitch.

I went to the local craft store and purchased a few fluorescent balls of Sugar and Cream cotton, packed up the knitting in the beach bag and headed off to Cape Cod for a weekend. Awesome: These were easy to knit on the beach and I wasn't worried about getting sand on the yarn. Not awesome: I do not understand how people can use this yarn regularly on any other project. It was like knitting with cardboard. The cotton has no give and scratched up my fingers. However, the results were fantastic.

The only issue? I don't use washcloths or dish cloths, ever. So now I've converted the pattern into towel size by adding three pattern repeats and have started on the largersize so the finished result will actually be used in my home.

Innaugural Address

2006-10-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

As an introduction to the world of knit-bogging I'll start with the latest meme that is sweeping the internets and list a few knitterly things about myself.

~ I don't knit in public. Okay, I did once but I really needed to finish a baby sweater before the mama popped. I only took out the knitting while on the bus and sat on the window side with my boyfriend in the aisle so I wouldn't be bothered by onlookers.

~ I'm a self-taught knitter, for the most part. My sister (who took up knitting for a whopping two months) taught me how to cast on and I took it from there, using the internet and Stitch N Bitch Nation for reference. My parents bought me Vogue Knitting about six months after I started knitting but I still rely on the internet for instruction.

~ My first project was a scarf knit from beautiful hand-painted yarn that my mother stuffed into my Christmas stocking. I had no idea what I was doing so I just kept knitting until I ran out of yarn. It was knit entirely in garter stitch because I still didn't know how to purl. I still wear that scarf.

~ My second project was the Fulled Lopi Tote from Hello Yarn. Still no purling necessary. I learned so much with this bag: increasing, decreasing, knitting in the round, binding off to make handles (though I still think I'm doing that wrong), and three-neelde bind off. I have never once used the bag but recently bought some fabric with the intention of lining it someday.

~ I just started my first pair of socks. Had I known sock knitting was so addictive I never would have started. Hopefully they turn out okay. My skills at picking up stitches are rather pathetic but practice makes perfect.

~ This winter I intend to rip apart almost evey sweater I own and re-use the yarn for new garments. Last night I tore out pages from the Anthropologie catalog for inspiration.

That's all for now. Soon I'll have pictures and the like to contribute to this space. I highly encourage comments and can't wait interact more with the knit-blog community!