stitch marker

cotton candy

The chickami is finished (yay), and I really like it. However, it's made me remember many of the things I never liked about cotton. Its shape firmed up very nicely after a long trip in a hot dryer, but I can just see how this will stretch all the time and turn shapeless at the bottom (like I need that). My husband thinks it's ugly, so rather than recruit him I took this awful photo myself. What pride I take in all this!



I did learn a few things. My flat knitting is way looser than my round knitting, so when I divided at the underarms, I used 2 different size needles for the front vs. back (thanks, Denise!). That allowed me to tighten up those purls. And I made a size too big (cotton gets smaller, but not that much smaller). Also, I learned how much weight I've gained since the last time I wore something sleeveless, circa September. Wow. All in all, I liked knitting this and would like to do another one in a better color now that I realize what a whole lotta pink looks like.

vulcan knitting

I love when you get near the end of a knitted project and you really begin to sense the logic of the pattern. All I have left is i-cord on this chickami.



Speaking of logic, I'm also into season 3 of my Voyager marathon. Watching every episode in order is the very perfect way to get knitting done and satisfy my Voyager obsession, while also sating my desire for completeness and accuracy in all things, including my TV viewing. Just saw Tuvok and Janeway meld.

kyoto knitters

Hi to all of you. Allison is back from traveling, and ready to think about kyoto. And she has noted on her blog that there are others already working on this sweater, and some who have (gasp) finished it. Check out a couple places to see and read about others' progress:

Knitty "coffeeshop" 1
Knitty "coffeeshop" 2
Knitters' Review forum

And Lizzi has finished hers, but won't show the goods (yet).

More to come...

mad

at self. Note to self: don't get so excited about finally decreasing that you skip part of the instructions.

You can clearly see in the photos of Banff a couple days ago that I didn't bind off 4 on each of 2 rows (after the ribbing/16 rows, before I began decreasing). Guess what? I'm not doing it all again, so that's how it's going to be. The front will be 2 rows longer than the back, so maybe I'll have to do something about that. Duh.

swift

As in fast--a cute little finished object that I made with a swatch of manos. Feline dim sum, being hogged by Ellie on the left (under her front paws), and it's intended recipient, Squeek, on the right.



And something swift in the mail! Seen below in action winding up 665 yards of alpaca. I would've had a snowball's chance in hell of winding this stuff without the swift, so I'm really glad it got here all the way from the Netherlands just in time to start the body of my soft sweater.





Also in the mail: manos in wildflower, which I think I'm going to use for a modified sweetness, when I get something else finished first.

found an answer!

This page has a detailed explanation of copyright and derivative works, if anyone's interested.

when does a pattern become my own?

I have a question that sounds ridiculous, but alas I'm serious. If I start working from a published sweater pattern, but I:
* change the yarn
* change the needle sizes
* change the hemline
* change the neckline
* knit it in the round instead of flat, and make new calculations for that

At what point am I designing a sweater that I would be free to write up and publish myself?
Does anyone know how much has to change? Like with recipes, I think the copyright guideline is 4 different ingredients before you can rename and publish a recipe. Mmmmm, food.

p.s. I saw on Kate's site that there's a TV show called Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. I'm sorry, but this sounds like something my dog experienced after eating the entire Thanksgiving turkey pan.

kyoto in action

Marcela has joined the kyoto knitalong, even though she started hers way before us and already has a sash :O She also appears to have a cat named Squee, which is what I often call my cat (nee Squeek, seen below). Welcome Marcela!

world tour
banff, kyoto, and cannon beach...

The banff back is finished, and the yarn is looking rich and chocolately (Lamb's Pride Roasted Coffee, worsted weight with 2 strands held together). This is one stiff fabric. It can practically stand up on its own. On the way back from another trip to Cannon Beach yesterday, I realized it is the exact same color as the winter alders along the streambeds. Gorgeous against the white and gray sky. Here it is alone, and modeled by the lovely Squeek.



As for the kyoto knitalong, there are 9 of us now. Heidi got her yarn and brought along her friend Gretchen to join. I'm done swatching for the time being (more math when I get to the sash, but I'm going to knit the sleeves first since those are a slam dunk). Any more news on kyotos? Email me here until I get comments up and running again.

In other news, work continues on the black alpaca lacy bell pullover. Both sleeves are finished and I need to knit the body. I heard we're going to get two more months of rain, snow, and cold. Maybe I'll get to wear one of these sweaters this year.

kyoto kickoff

With just minutes to spare before midnight, I'm posting with best wishes for the official start of the knit-along. To kick off my own kyoto, I went to the LYS and bought some silver cotton viscose to use for the sash. I figured it would be more silky than the sonata in pink, and I'd wear it more because it's a more neutral color. It looks white here, but is really gray/silver. It's thinner than sonata, so I have some math to do to make the sizes match up.



I know a few of us are planning to lengthen the sweater. Becky wrote to me about her plan:

I'm thinking of doing a slight flare, like is used in the Rosedale
cardigan pattern (which I'm knitting right now). That technique is:
knit even for four inches or so; then begin waist shaping,
decrease one stitch on each side of the two side markers, every 4th
row, for a total of 4 decreases; knit even for a couple inches; the
decreases are then matched as you go up by increases every 4th row.

I'm also planning to knit the extension as all one piece with the sash,
rather than trying to have there be three main pieces to the sweater.

I'm planning to do something similar, but with a more drastic flare that takes place over just 4". I think... More on that once I get the swatches done and start knitting. Let me know your updates!

new banff material

I'm going to rip out what i've done with the manos (too variegated for this pattern). And I want to order some Lamb's Pride Bulky. I swatched with Chianti, and the stitch definition is gorgeous but the color is too purply pink. Has anyone used Roasted Coffee, Aubergine, or Medieval Red? What do you think of any of these? I haven't seen them in person, and the colors are different on every online site. Here they are in the above order:



My concern is that I want a deep red/brown sweater, but I don't want it to be so dark it's murky.

Oh, Blogspeak is down, so feel free to email me directly. Thanks for any opinions.

ripping at one-quarter impulse

The ripping goes slowly (lots of interwoven skeins involved, and lots of knots). But it's the perfect activity to do while watching every Star Trek Voyager in order. I'm up to 1st season, episode 15, and I have 5 very small balls of Colinette Giotto in the Venezia colorway reclaimed. Oh goodie. In the next episode I get to hear B'Elanna say "Get the cheese to sickbay."

mmmm manos

featured in Kim's first-ever sock (in woodland)...





and the ribbing for Banff (in wildflowers)...

banff body

I'm getting ready to start Banff soon, and I've been making very serious swatches (for me anyway) of 4" in both directions, on various size needles, washed and dried before measuring. I'm still not getting the right gauge (I'm 1/2 stitch short and 1 row short, so this already-big sweater would be truly voluminous). Drat. I don't want to have to do another swatch, this time down to size 8 needles for a pattern that calls for 10s. But I guess after all this work I might as well.

Also, I want less of a puff above the ribbing, both on the body and arms. The pattern calls for increasing 8 stitches around the waist in the row right above the ribbing. I'm trying to redo the pattern without this, and it's a (fun) challenge for me. We'll see... I read this, and got excited but also even more confused. Has anyone ever done one of these 2-D body plans? What do they look like? Half your waist or the whole dang 32" across? Duh... It's pretty ironic that I've decided to do all this math for a sweater that's pretty huge and forgiving.

bank account victory

My friend Kim and I visited a new yarn shop in town and didn't spend a dime (well $8 for parking (!), but none at the store). It was interesting, very cold in the store and the owner didn't seem to want us messing up the yarn. The prices were awfully high; it was more of a boutique. We're probably not going back there, but it was fun to leave without any money spent. There's a first time for everything!

icing



No one can go anywhere with all this ice in Portland, so it's another big knitting day! I can work on my alpaca lacy bell pullover, but it's giving me sore wrists and I need to wear my wrist supports. Here are the sleeves in progress. I keep draping them over my arms and admiring them. They're so soft...



The other night I finally finished the popcorn shawl by turning it into a ballerina-style wrap with braided strings. I don't like it. But I think the intended recipient actually will. She's statuesque and a model, so it will have a very different effect on her. In the meantime, here it is on 5'2" rounder me:



Now I'm back to dreaming about yet another sweater. A very warm one, all in Manos. Maybe with the ribbing from Banff but a smaller body (so I won't look like a sack of potatoes in it). I'm selling a bunch of stuff on ebay to make the money for a Manos sweater. Soon!

perfect day for "fireside"

Here's the view on my patio from yesterday--outrageously snowy for Portland, Oregon.



And here's the first finished object of 2004. A pair of "fireside socks."



Designed by Joan Gooth-Buchanan, from the Spin-Off publication called Socks (how appropriate). I made these with a yarn that is very much like Manos, but half the price. It's handspun, handdyed pearl color yarn from Serendipity in South America. After a very short trip in a hot dryer (like 90 seconds), they felted very slightly and firmed up perfectly. They were fast (a 2-day project), since you cast on just 28 stitches to begin the sock (on size 10.5 needles). This is a good, gratifying pattern for a knitter who hasn't done socks before, as I learned by using this to simultaneously teach my friend Kim (who is using Manos). These are a birthday gift for a good friend, and they're going in the mail today. I like that feeling :-)

I also made a tiny, impatient but adequate swatch for my lacy bell pullover in the black alpaca. That's with size 15 needles at the top and down to 7s at the bottom (which is how the sweater gets its lacy sleeve-ends). I thought I would need to use big needles, like 10s, to get 4 stitches to the inch with this fine yarn. But this swatch is telling me--no matter how many times I measure it--that I am right on gauge both horizontally and vertically by using 7s! Whatever.

black alpaca

I'm not even going to take a picture, because a digital image won't do it justice. There was no way I was leaving NW Wools without the black alpaca. It was soft, and dark, and I need to knit a winter sweater before it's too late to enjoy. I kept circling the store and going back to pet the skeins. After about 4 or 5 visits to this yarn over a half-hour time period, I realized I was acting like a crazed junkie. I bought 2 (665 yards and $23 each!) I can't wait to do something with this. Just a soft long-sleeve sweater. Mmmm.

giotto enorme



Here's my entry in the rip along sponsored by Alison.

This was the incredible growing ribbon sweater, that didn't seem too big while I was knitting it. When it was done, all I could think was "What a remarkably expensive disaster." (that's a lot of Colinette Giotto in there). This sweater was supposed to be big and drapey, but God! Soon it will be come a pretty spring tank top in my own size. Thanks for the motivation Alison!

brand new year

We are snowed in, Portland style, which means we have a couple inches and everyone can't drive. Sledding abounds. It's wonderful! I'm knitting away at my chickami, but it looks just the same. So I had to change something--how about my blog colors?

Happy New Year everyone!