Gyrid

Finally, pictures of Gyrid. They're not very big 'cause they're not very good!

Click for a clear (but washed-out) view.

I wore it today and it's so soft and comfortable. This will get alot of wear! It could have been a little shorter (hello, hips!), but it's really quite nice.

New Knitting

I started two new projects. One is the strappy tank, which is going well, but is just red stockinette stitch. It should be done sometime next week, especially if I can get a lot done this weekend.

The other is the sweater from the Dale book that I mentioned last time. I've just done a few rounds, but I love the color and the pattern. This will also be beautiful when it's done, but it feels like that's a long way away...

As much as I've been knitting in the last several days, there hasn't seemed to be much to write about. Maybe it's just the post-FO let-down. Maybe when these projects move along to be something more photographable I'll be all jazzed up.

Two FOs!

Mist is done!

Well, I cheated a little on the sleeves and haven't shortened them, but no one really seems to notice that they're folded under. It's a nice sweater, fairly light, actually, and nice to wear. I'm not as in love with it as I was with the pattern, but I think it will continue to grow on me.

Gyrid

is drying on my couch, with a kitty helper. I finished it in the wee hours of this morning, and hoped that if I set it out to block it might dry in 7 hours and then I could wear it. Nineteen hours later it's still a little damp, but I should be able to wear it this week. It fit nicely before I soaked it and laid it out, so I hope it's still good when it's dry. I seem to be living in a state of sizing panic lately. Hopefully I'll get over it.

What I Did with My Friday Night

"I'll just wind this two-pound hank of cotton and then knit the night away!" I thought.

Uh huh. The hank had too large a diameter to fit on my swift, so I had to throw it across the back of two chairs. I could lead the yarn off the hank with my left hand and crank with my right hand. This is what it looked like after the first ball.

About three hours later I'd wound four balls and tried to put the yarn on the swift. I could wind a little, and then I'd have to go over and untangle the hank or keep it from falling off. At 1am, a friend logged in and said hi, and I convinced him to come over and help me wind. In another hour we'd wound the last four balls.

I now have 9 approximately-100-gram balls of beautiful red cotton floss. Five swatches later, I'm almost ready to cast on for my strappy Vogue tank. Maybe the last swatch will dry by morning and I'll be ready to start tomorrow. I'd like to wear it on my trip to San Francisco in a couple weeks. Think I can manage that?

Tencel^6

My geeky friends and I refer to Harvard Square as H^2. Knitting with six strands of tencel held together could therefore be Tencel^6.* I made a swatch to play with the color transitions for the High Tide sweater.

No shading...

...and shading.

I'm definitely going to go with the shading. I cast on for the sweater tonight and it will be a long time until I do the shading, but I'm excited. I love the feel of the tencel and I think it will be a very pretty sweater.

More tanks!

I'm eyeing that Contessa still for an adapted Honeymoon Cami. Her edging won't show up with this yarn because it's so fine and because of the color variation. I'd like to give mine some sort of an edge, but I'm not sure what would look good. On US1's, I don't think there's too much I could get in the way of a lace pattern, and I think the color change would probably obscure it anyway. Any ideas? I looked through a lot of Barbara Walker books tonight, but I didn't come up with anything.

I bought some Svale today to do this shell (pictured when you click on "Collections"). Despite the fact that Svale seems to be hated by most knitters because it's splitty and has no stretchy fibers (50 cotton/ 40 viscose/ 10 silk), I love this shell and I'll love this yarn. I mean, I'm knitting with six strands of Tencel held together. At least this stuff is plied!

I'm also ready to get on the "meet the fleet" strappy tank from the cover of Vogue bandwagon. I think I'll do it in something from...

Webs Haul, part 3

These hanks of cotton floss are 2 pounds apiece and were just $16 each. I have quite a few colors, don't I? I'm wavering between the green, blue, and pink. Since Gyrid is green and most of High Tide is blue, maybe I should go for pink? It could be cute and feminine. Red seems too flashy, but it would probably look great in this pattern. The grey/silver seems... more refined. Maybe I'll wind one tomorrow night.

Gyrid, Mist, almost finished!

Gyrid's front has reached the armholes, so I'm hoping I can finish her up Friday night and block and seam Saturday for wearing on Sunday. Yay!

I wore Mist today, even though it needs another button (got it tonight) and to have the sleeves shortened a bit. I'll try to do that tomorrow or Saturday and get a picture at Knitsmiths. Another fine sweater, finished just out of season. It'll be all ready to go in the fall. Or maybe in San Francisco in two weeks? (It's more a date trip than a knitting trip. Unless some knitters can grab lunch on Monday??)

P.S.

No, Brenda, I'm not kidding.

*Maybe I'll become less geeky as I'm transformed into a chemist. My advisor is an engineer, though, so I'm sure my geekiness will be preserved.

Summer Tank Time

I'm making great progress on Gyrid. I'm about two rows short of the midpoint of the motif on the front. I love seeing the cable appear. I'm hoping to finish the knitting by the end of the week, so I should be able to block and seam by Knitsmiths on Sunday.

I think I'll knit several more designs from this book; I love almost all of them. I love the yarn; it's a joy to knit with.

I did find two small mistakes in the chart which are not on the official page of corrections. In rows 31, the stitch to the right of the rightmost cable cross should be a purl. In row 32, the stitch above the corrected stitch should also be a purl. I sent mail to the publisher to let them know.

Mist

It's almost done! All seamed, and the big button is on. I need to put the inside button in and I need to make a little loop for it, but I haven't felt ready to look at the book and learn something new. Gyrid cables, sure, but button loop, no. I can read the chart and look at a row at a time, but doing little fiddly work with a crochet hook or a needle is too much work these evenings. Hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow or Wednesday so that I can wear it to my knitting class on Thursday. No picture yet, but I promise one then.

Swatching for New Stuff

New stuff! (I started the second of my random socks, but that's not quite the same, you know?) I need to wind off a lot of tencel and play a little bit with shading the color changes, and then I'll be ready to cast on. The joy of 10 1/2 needles -- just 65 stitches for the back! This will make up for knitting sleeves during tank season. :)

(I chose accurate color over accurate focus.)
Last year at the Knitsmiths swap, I picked up a cone of Contessa in a colorway called Winter Harvest. It's not my usual color choice, but it really appealed to me that day. I pulled the swatch out last week when I was looking at stuff with my mom and today I had an idea for it. I think it would look great in a tank, and I love the shape of the Honeymoon Cami from this spring's Knitty. I don't think that lace pattern will show up in this yarn, but I think I'll get out my stitch pattern books and see if I can find something else that might work. Of course, since the switch was knit on US1's (6.25 sts/inch!) and I like that weight, it's going to take a lot of work to find a lace pattern that will show up. Maybe I'll try swatching on 2's to see whether it would be too see-through. I've thought about using it doubled, but I'm worried that it would just muddy the colors. What do you think?

Webs Haul: Part 2

(Click for a close-up.)
This is some pink-but-almost-grey tweedy silk/wool/cotton (50/30/20) that both my mom and I bought. The color is beautiful and subtle. I have no plans for this yarn, but I think my mom might for hers. Maybe something lacy? There's a nice tank in the new Vogue. Of course, this might be the wrong gauge altogether, and that's a harder pattern to adjust than a nice stockinette cami. This is pure, unadulterated stash. I'm happy to just look at it and have happy, yarny thoughts.

Two More Notes

Brenda, your lobster will be in the mail tomorrow.

Vicki, we didn't take any pictures -- we were too busy! Alison took one when we were at Knitsmiths, though, and you can see it here.

Monkey sleeves complete

From the back porch at my house, this is a Saturday entry in "I'd Rather Be Knitting." Brought to you by beautiful spring weather, wireless, and NPR on the radio inside. :)

On the way home from work yesterday it was sooo nice out, so I decided to stop in at my LCS (local coffee shop), get a rusty slide (ice cream and chai), sit in front of the open front, and knit, hoping that someone I know will wander by and say hello. The mission was a full success: I finished the second monkey sleeve for Mist and some friends happened by. Perfect way to start the evening.

I came home and set out to block Mist. I had a lot of concerns about the color bleeding -- less because I worry about the sweater losing color, but more that I expect I'll have to sacrifice some of my towels (all light-colored) to the bleeding dye. After a little bit of consultation, I tested my swatch with a dash of vinegar in the water, and it looked a lot better than I'd remembered from the original swatch washing, so I filled up the sink with fresh water, soaked, and extracted. I think ti would ahve been really red without the vinegar. I'm not sure why it's so orange, but I'm trying not to think too hard about that. Thanks for the tip, Mom!

In fact, I didn't get any red dye on my whiteish towels, and my pretty towel seems to be just fine under the drying pieces. Is it dry yet? It's not dry yet. I'd really like to wear it tomorrow on a little adventure to Circles, the Arboretum for a picnic, and of course,to show it off at Knitsmiths. I've got the doors and windows open, and hopefully it will dry quickly! That's another think I'm looking forward to in Colorado - stuff dries fast!

On Gyrid progress, I finished the back last night after getting some input from my class group at Circles that, despite not observing the length corrections, it seems to look ok. I got a couple rows into the chart before I went to bed. At 2. It seemed like a good time to stop; trying cables at that hour would not be smart. I'm actually impressed that I was with it enough at 2am to know that it was time to stop. I think this afternoon will be spent with Gyrid out here on the porch.

Webs Haul: First in a Series

I've photographed all of my haul from Webs, but I think I'll spread it out a bit so that you don't ruin your keyboard drooling, and so that I have some filler when I'm too lazy to take pictures of the stuff I'm doing.

The first thing I put in the basket was this Tencel. It's for a sweater called "High Tide" by Chris Bylsma. (Picture here, about midway down the page.) You use two colors at a time, AB, BC, CD, and DE. I'll use the colors in this order, with the warm colors at the top and the cool colors at the bottom. Since this stuff is rather fine, I probably need about 4 strands (swatching in progress!), so I could do a lot more shading than what's written in the pattern. We'll see how much I want to pay attention to it when I get there! I probably have a pound of each color, so I'll certainly have leftovers for something else.

Response to Comments

I realized the other day that I hadn't replied to a slew of comments, and I wanted to make sure I did that. Brenda, I'm sorry we forgot your lobster. All that yarn went to our heads and we got a little carried away. I'll see what I can do about it.

Ingrid in Canada: I have to admit that I've never skiied. I think my labmates next year will be ready to help me correct this. Your flashy lace weather will come!

Alison, I'm glad you got to meet my mom last week. She's excited about the pattern, but I'm supposed to look for something else at Circles that might have the same cable and then should would be able to figure out more on her own. Maybe I can tell you about it tomorrow.

Em, I'd love to meet you at Knitsmiths! You'll be here for our swap, right?

Speaking of which, Sandy, I was thinking of putting the Flash into the swap, but you've still got dibs if you want it. I'm still up for a Circles gift certificate if you want to do that, or we could talk yarn for yarn; let me know. See you tomorrow?

And finally, thank you all for your support this week. I've been touched by your responses and really appreciate them. I'm going to write a letter and card to the family this weekend and offer services like errands (they live near me) and that I could knit a blanket if they'd like. If you have any clever ideas about how to phrase this, please let me know. I don't want to make any impositions on this family. Work will offer the mother her our standard three months paid maternity leave, so I don't know if I'll otherwise see her before I move. I think in a few weeks I might send another note and invite her for coffee. She was one of my supervisors for a few years and we worked closely on several projects, and it would be nice to see her again if she's ready.

How to transition with blog and life?

Thank you for the supportive comments yesterday. As another knitter pointed out to me yesterday, I'd prepared for this baby, too, so I felt connected to it. I wish there was something to do for the family, but I think it's best to let them know they're in my thoughts and let them take time.

Looking back, I guess I didn't blog about it, but a really great guy I'd known while I was in college through a service fraternity died in March. He was 30, had died of colon cancer, was engaged, and was an all-around great guy. It was shocking and inconceivable. I decided to knit my hope for life and happiness into the baby projects that I've just recently finished - this dress, and the purple cable sweater that I finally put the buttons on on Sunday. So in a way, this was a little bit of a double blow, bringing me back to John's death and the incomprehensibleness of it all. I mailed the purple sweater yesterday, anyway. That baby is two weeks old and healthy, and someday he'll grow into the monster sweater I made.

I have projects in mind for my best-friend-since-we-were-in-diapers, who is pregnant with her first child. I think that I will take some time to let this pass before I start on those. I want to knit with hope, not with worry.

Project Updates

I've been working on my knitting still, of course. The second sleeve for Mist is coming along. I hope the weather won't be too warm for me to wear this a little after I finally finish it, but the way it's been going this spring, I might have a chance. I can't tell whether it will actually be warm, though. My seed stitch, even though it's on 0's, seems a little bit airy, and I wonder if this will be a rather lightweight sweater. I'll get to find out, as soon as I finish my monkey sleeves. I think I realize where I may have gone a little wrong, but the test will come after blocking. According to the swatch, it should shorten up a bit on washing, so I hope that works. i expect that I'll put it all together, discover that I really did make monkey arms, and then I'll pick up a row of stitches near where my wrist really is, then cut! and bind off at the right length. I don't think that should be too painful, right?

I started Gyrid from Elsebeth Lavold's book, Designer's Choice, Book One. I got through most of the back in the first week. I love the yarn and the knitting, and the back just a column of purl stitches in the center, so it didn't take a lot of paying attention.

After I'd done quite a bit, I found out that there are corrections for the book. The initial length measurement (how far to knit before starting the side decreases) in inches is incorrect; the cm measurements are correct. I had, of course, blindly followed the inches. I realized when I got to the waist that there was a problem, but I decided to ignore it. Now, instead of having about 3" of straight knitting at the waist, I'd done 3" at the hemline. (3", 3cm.... kinda different!) I decided to carry on, just doing two rows even for the waist and then started the increases to the bust.

I've now gotten past the armholes and to the neck, and it looks like this. I don't know whether it will be ok (I'm kinda shortwaisted, but am I that shortwaisted?), or whether I should rip back to the beginning and do it "right." I can't hold it up well enough to see how it might fit, so I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions? I did cast on for the front and it's time to rip or ride it out.

New Acquisitions

My mom and I had a good time at Webs. A really good time. Maybe 20-sweatersworth of good time. All of mom's yarn didn't fit in her suitcase. That good a time. I'll start photographing it over the next few days. Some has plans, some just wanted to come home.

I now feel like I have a real stash -- not just yarn planned for projects, but just yarn! I could choose a pattern from a book and look around and say, "What do I have that I could use for this?" The possibilities are endless! Well, until I've knit these 20 sweaters.

Sad news

I found out when I got to work this morning that the baby I knit the Debbie Bliss dress with the fair isle border for died. She was due next week. Apparently there was a heartbeat yesterday but not one today; they don't know what happened.

I'm overwhelmed. There's the terrible things, good people part, but more than that, I can't imagine the shock, the grief, the pain, the explanation to their three-year old son, coming home to a house with baby girl things, and a hand-knit dress made with love and hope that won't be worn.

Webs!!

We

bought

yarn!

Busy weekend, little knitting

And it's shaping up to be a busy week. Here's the update:

Friday - cooked dinner (kinda a new idea around here). Talked to my mom on the phone for a long time and knit some.

Saturday - cleaned the apartment a lot. Took a ton of stuff to Goodwill. Walked about 4 miles to a friend's house, hung out, and got a little knitting done. (Except that I hadn't taken the right needles to start my new project, but she loaned me a pair of close-enoughs and I was on my merry way!)

Sunday - cleaned more and did a ton of laundry. Took more stuff to Goodwill and clothes to the cleaners. Went to a TFC (my chorus) concert that was incredible. Got about an hour at Knitsmiths. Came home and ate and cleaned some more.

So my house is looking pretty good, but there's not a lot of knitting. I didn't even get the buttons put on the baby sweater. Maybe I can manage that Wednesday. This week I have rehearsal, four concerts, a big international meeting to attend, and, on my last spare night, a dinner for that meeting. Any knitting I get will have to be on the T, and I'm afraid to do the buttons there.

I thought I'd thrown in the pictures of stuff I promised before, but I'm too tired to tell you all about them. You can use your imagination. :)

First, Mist progress. I got up to the buttonhole and decided to make a buttonhole swatch. I made a vertical buttonhole, working the two sides separately. The book said not to do it, no really, we mean it. I did it anyway and I'll just try to do a little reinforcing around the edge. The piece looked like this before I finished off the front. I've also finished one sleeve and started the second, so I might finish it up soon. The new challenge: choosing the towels to sacrifice for squeezing out water and blocking -- red bleeds!

I started Gyrid from Elsbeth Lavold's Designer's Choice. I'm using her silky wool and I really like it. I haven't photographed the work yet, but here's the swatch. (Hey, it's just a swatch.)

And finally, Sundae so mesmerized by yarn that she forgot she was taking a bath. (She didn't even flinch when I took photos with a flash!

(Cuter when big.)

My mom will be here this weekend (yay!) and I'll try to blog about our food-and-knitting weekend as we go along.