Wednesday, September 29, 2004

I've been knitting like mad:

The pieces for the sample sweater for my Beginning Finishing class are done and on the blocking board.  I was so excited about taking this picture, that I almost forgot to spray them with water!  They're nice and damp now, and should be flat and dry by tomorrow night's class.  Please note that this is a toddler sized sweater, so don't think I've gone and knit a whole adult sweater in a few days' time.  Please note, too, that the fact that you're seeing only one sleeve is not a mistake.  The second sleeve will be picked up and worked from the shoulder down to the cuff, to show an alternate method for attaching sleeves.

Next up is a quickie birthday present for my brother-in-law, which I'll show you after it's been delivered (this weekend).  I've got the yarn, but I need to locate the pattern . . .

In Celtic Dreams news, Karen reports that her sweater is moving along quickly.  Look for update photos on her blog soon.  Oh!  I just checked, and there's one now!  Wow.  The cables show up beautifully with that wool from Bartlett yarns.  It's stunning, Karen!  I wonder if my Blackwater Abbey yarn has arrived yet so I can get started on mine?  Bet you're anxious to see weeks and weeks of progress photos for a black cabled sweater, aren't you? 

I'm feeling EXTREMELY guilty about the St. Brigid I owe my sister.  I think I'd better start that one soon.

Will I get confused if I knit two Aran pullovers at the same time?  Um, I mean concurrently, rather than simultaneously.  I think I'm going to find out soon.

Now where did I put that pattern for my brother-in-law's gift . . . ?

Sarah

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

For the local knitters:

I've updated the Tuesday night knit-in page on my website with the information I was given at September's Guild meeting.  Tonight's knit-in will be at Ann's house.  Park your car on Crown Boulevard, which is across Harrison Road and a teeny bit south of her house.  I'll see you there!

For everyone:

I'm shocked and appalled that Chris would think I'm trying to sneak a new, unscheduled sweater past you, my faithful readers.  Shocked and appalled, I tell you.  All I'm trying to do is study for my TKGA swatches by practicing that Combined Knitting technique in a variety of practical situations, like casting on, underarm shaping, neck shaping, shoulder shaping, etc.  I've even decided to further my study by casting on for a third, even larger swatch in order to practice back neck shaping.  I suppose Chris is going to have the nerve to call this one a "sweater back".  Amazing.

Shocked.

Appalled.

Sarah

Monday, September 27, 2004

In anticipation of the ribbed swatches for the TKGA Level 1 knit-along, I thought it best to get in a little practice, so during this past weekend I cast on with some of my new Como yarn and practiced working a 3x3 rib using Combined Knitting (after studying Annie Modesitt's book, Confessions of a Knitting Heretic).  I'm wrapping clockwise on the purl stitches (clockwise in relation to the point of the needle, which is the opposite of how I normally wrap any of my stitches), and then knitting into the backs of the knit stitches (with counter-clockwise wraps). 

Here's my swatch, which I washed and lightly blocked (laid flat to dry, actually):

Oops!  I just noticed that I photographed the swatch from what I consider to be the "wrong" side.  Pop quiz for my students -- can you see why? 

The ribbing seemed to work out just fine.  My stitches appear to be consistent.  I don't have a swatch done in my "normal" knitting to compare this one to, unfortunately -- maybe I'll make one someday soon.

In the mean time, I decided to go a little further with the Combined Knitting technique, and made some larger swatches:

You know how sometimes you can look at something and it looks like it could be something else?  Like clouds that look like bunnies, or potatoes that look like Richard Nixon?  If you tilt your head to the left, these swatches almost look like they could be one and a half unblocked fronts of a ribbed cardigan. 

Weird. 

I'm knitting along with my Beginning Finishing students, except that I hope most of them are farther along than I am.  Here's my first sleeve, unblocked:

I need to knit the back and fronts of my child-sized cardigan before Thursday night's class.  Maybe I should go do that now.

But first I think I'll practice my Combined Knitting on those purple swatches a little more . . .

Sarah

Friday, September 24, 2004

The Autumn Open House at Little Red Schoolhouse will include a felting demonstration on Saturday (tomorrow), and Jacquie's spinning demonstration on Sunday.  I saw a commercial for the open house on television last night, and the yarn shop was featured prominently.  Cool!

In Celtic Dreams Knit-along news, I've been half-heartedly shopping around for different yarn for this project.  I suddenly had a lightbulb moment when I realized what I wanted my sweater to look like.  With apologies to my aging eyes, I've decided my Celtic Dreams sweater absolutely, without a doubt, has got to be black.  Untraditional, I know, but in my mind's eye it's exactly what I've been waiting for.  Now to find the perfect, tightly spun, gauge-appropriate black wool.  ThreadBear is getting a Blackwater Abbey trunk show in about a month, which includes their yarns, so I'm probably going to get some of that.  The only Celtic Dreams sweater I've seen knit up was done in Blackwater Abbey yarn, and it was beautiful.

I've reached a significant milestone with Anjuli, so you get a photo:

I'm up to the underarm shaping (finally)!  One problem, though.  Can you see it?  Probably not.  Here's a close-up:

Under each dark purple stripe is supposed to have been a teeny bit of stockinette stitch to provide a little textural relief from all that garter stitch.  Can you see the little ditches under the bottom two dark purple stripes?  But not under the top one, huh?  Bummer.  No, it doesn't matter, but yes, I'm going to fix it.  Since it's only about two inches back, I'm trying to decide if I want to tear back to that spot, or if I should fix it later by cutting out that row and grafting it back together.  I'll probably go with the grafting. 

Lookie what I received in return for the package I shipped off to Canada a couple of weeks ago:

This:

Oooh!  The legendary (and discontinued) Mexican Wave.  I have to figure out what to make with this.  Any suggestions?

And this:

Aaah!  Jaeger Como in a beautiful shade of . . . gasp!  Could it be?  Why yes!  It's purple!!!  I'm hoping to use this to cast on for something soon. But what?

And last but certainly not least:

Fur FX from Estelle Yarns, a new yarn company to me.  Soft, fluffy, and luscious.  I just want to snuggle with it!  In blues, purple (yay!) and a green that is very close to the color of my eyes.  Perfect!  What will this become?

Can you see the big smile on my face?  Trading with friends is FUN!!!!

Sarah

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

I taught Session 2 of my Beginning Knitting class at the Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop in Lansing this morning (Hi Martha!  Hi Emily!).  The yarn shop is located in the center of a craft/antique mall, and today I took time after class to wander the aisles to see what I could find.  I found this:

This silk wrap was hanging in the yarn shop, which is where I kept circling back to, and it's from Lantern Moon, believe it or not -- purveyor of fine knitting needles and baskets.  I took the photo outside in the sun to try to capture the beautiful colors on either side of the fabric, but I didn't quite get it (the photo shows the two sides of the same piece of fabric).  The blue is much darker, and the silver is more blue -- you can see a hint of the blue in a few spots.  I need to smooth out the creases, and then I plan to wrap myself in it's silky goodness and pretend I'm an elegant woman of the world.

After my shopping expedition was over, I headed over to ThreadBear to say hi to the guys.  They've got the trunk show from the crochet issue of Interweave Knits, so I was able to see some of the pieces in person that I had been wondering about making (of course, I would have to learn to do more than single crochet in order for that to happen).  Valentina Devine's pillow is interesting -- I liked it better in the magazine, but I think I would just have to make the strips wider, or make more of them, so it wouldn't be quite so gappy (gappy = full of gaps, in case you were wondering). 

Speaking of gappy, I had the opportunity to try on Norah Gaughan's asymmetrical cardigan.  It's a beautiful garment, but I just can't do the asymmetrical thing -- I kept tugging at the two fronts to try to bring them together at the center rather than at the side.  Okay -- partly because it was asymmetrical, but mostly because the gap between the two fronts provided a nice showcase for my left breast, which I'm not really in the habit of showing off.  I think if I were to attempt the sweater, I would have to alter the pattern so it would close in the center front.  Unfortunately, I don't think I know enough about crochet to go about altering patterns, so that project will probably drop off my wish list. 

So what else is going on?

Oh!  Little Red Schoolhouse (the whole craft mall, not just the yarn store) is having an Autumn Open House this weekend, with door prizes, refreshments, demonstrations and sales.  I believe my friend Jacquie Vaughan will be doing a spinning demonstration on one of the two days.  You can find more information here.  You won't find any more blue silk Lantern Moon stoles, because I bought the only one.  There were a couple of other colors, though.  Look here. 

And I saw TrixieChick at ThreadBear.  She was taking advantage of her broken-pinkie-induced sick leave to check out the new store.  Go look at her adorable photo "Dog on Sofa in Sunshine."  Too cute!

Sarah

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Let me quote from the comments which were posted in response to yesterday's entry:

From Rob:

GIVE IN
You know you'll need something to knit on at Guild tomorrow evening......
START SOMETHING
NOW

From Tracy:

Finish it enough to wear, declare it finished, then fix whatever you rushed through, and declare it finished again...oh wait - that's me.   Anjuli is great guild knitting....

From Chris:

Put down the new ball of yarn and those needles.  Get up, go to the Random thingie and SEW! You can do it.

From Emma:

You must finish it ! We need to see it modelled. Then you can throw yourself at the stash !

In my ongoing effort to try to make everyone happy (except Rob, who I pictured sitting on my shoulder with little devil horns growing out of his head), I sat right down and finished Randomly Slanted.  Proof:

The bottom front corners need to be blocked, but other than that, it's done!  And it fits!  And it's purple! 

The first Guild meeting of the season was tonight, and our program was "What I did on my summer vacation".  Sharon was busy taking lots of photos of people's projects, which I figure she'll post on her blog, so go look over there soon.  I took a picture of one of Sharon's finished projects, which I hadn't yet seen in person.  It's a Colinette pattern which she knit with yarn from Woven Art in East Lansing (which is also where I got the yarn for Randomly Slanted, by the way!):

Doesn't she look fabulous?  It's an ultra-cool garment.  Excellent job, Sharon! 

One of our Guild traditions is to hand out bags of yarn from the Guild's stash, with the requirements that

• you can't look in the bag before you take it
• you can't put the bag back after you look in it
• you must knit a hat for charity with whatever is in the bag
• you can supplement what's in the bag with something from your stash
• you can't give the leftovers back to the Guild

It's an attempt to reduce the Guild's out-of-control stash, which grows every year due to generous donations from very kind souls.  At a meeting later in the year, we bring in the finished hats and donate them to a deserving place.

Here's this year's bag:

I usually try to guess what's in the bags before I choose one.  Some of the yarn is wonderful.  Some of the yarn is not.  I squeeze them, hold them up to the light, listen carefully to what they have to say . . . but I always get stuck with something icky.  Shiny fuzzy white acrylic one year.  Lots of little tiny balls of different colors another year.

This year I wasn't even going to take one.  It's an optional activity, after all.  Call me a yarn snob, but I didn't want to get stuck with some awful crunchy yarn again, or with all those tiny ends to weave in.  But I had forgotten to take off my name tag in time for it to go into the name tag box at the end of the meeting, you see.  And Wendy, the keeper of the name tag box, was standing over by those bags of yarn.  So I took my name tag over to her, and after I handed it to her I turned around and walked back to my table, and lo and behold, there was a brown paper sack in my hand -- that innocent looking one you see in the photo up there. 

I don't know how that happened.  I'm blaming Wendy, even though I never saw her move.

So I brought the bag home, and let it sit on my kitchen counter for a while, and finally I couldn't stand it any longer and ripped it open.

And look!

It's purty!  And there's even a little tiny bit of purple in there.  See it?  I'm a happy hat knitter now!  La di da di da!

Oh -- wanna know why I cropped out my head in the sweater picture up there at the very top of today's rather lengthy post?  My hair was a little messy 'cause I was driving around in this all afternoon:

My father-in-law and his wife are learning how to be retired, and I think they've successfully completed the lesson on how to spend their children's inheritance.  Hey, as long as they keep letting me drive, it's fine with me!

Sarah

Monday, September 20, 2004

See this photo?

What you're looking at is Randomly Slanted (well, yes it is, but that's the name of the sweater, too, which is what I was trying to say).  In a brief frenzy of activity late this afternoon, I managed to sew the sleeves to the body, but not completely.  What remains to be done is what you see here, which is . . . um . . . what, exactly?  Well, it's upside down, for one thing.  The larger edge on the bottom of that little triangular wedge-shaped opening is the bottom of the short sleeve (told you it was upside down), and the smaller edge on the top of that little triangular wedge-shaped opening is the armhole opening of the body.  So what remains to be done is to sew part of the bottom of the sleeve to the armhole opening (four times, for the four places where this occurs), and the rest of the bottom of the sleeve to the rest of the bottom of the other side of the sleeve (two times, because there are two sleeves). 

Are you clear on that?  'Cause there'll be a pop quiz later.

Oh -- look what I can do:

Is that better?

So what that means, really, is that I need to sew a total of about 18", and then I'll be done.  Except for some ends to weave in.  And two rounds of single crochet per sleeve.  But then that's all.  Except for sewing on the buttons.  And then it's done.

But I don't wanna DO any of those things.  I just wanna start something NEW!!

I must be strong.  I must resist.

Sigh.

Sarah

Sunday, September 19, 2004

Before I forget to mention it, I've added Michelle to the Celtic Dreams knit-along, and Barb, Eileen and Sharon to the TKGA Master Level 1 knit-along.  Welcome, everyone! 

I did some browsing for new yarn for Celtic Dreams last week, but didn't come up with anything yet.  I'm intrigued by the idea of using black yarn, though.  Am I nuts?  I mean, for wanting to knit Celtic Dreams in black?  I know I'm nuts in a general sort of way, so you can keep THOSE comments to yourself.

I hosted the first gathering of the Master Knitters group at ThreadBear this afternoon.  We talked about registering for the program and getting started on our swatches, and I handed out a list of resources that might be helpful.  Here's a copy of the handout that I, um, handed out.  We've decided to try to get the first three swatches and as many of the first batch of questions done as we can before we meet next month -- we'll have to wait until we get to swatch 14 before we finish answering the questions.

My blocking board was busy this weekend. 

First with the Red Stash Sweater:

Then with the back of Son Number Two's Entrelac Pillow:

The next step for the Red Stash Sweater is to work a garter stitch ridge around the perimeter of each piece with a contrasting color.  I have some gorgeous teal handspun in my stash that I thought would work well.  I worked the garter stitch ridge around the back piece, but it dawned on me as I finished it that teal isn't my best color, so I'll probably tear that out tomorrow and look for another color to use.  I want it to be a blue-ish color -- I may have to go shopping again if I can't find anything in my stash!

The back(s) of the Entrelac Pillow just need to be sewn to the front, and the zipper has to be sewn in.  I'm a little nervous (okay, a lot), but I hope to get to that next week.

I re-worked the crocheted edge of Randomly Slanted, so now I just have to sew in the newly lengthened sleeves and put the crocheted edge around the sleeve edges.  Oh, and sew on the buttons.  Another project close to completion.

And I've been plugging away at Anjuli while watching a few DVDs (Chocolat, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and, just to mix it up a bit, Happy Gilmore).  A few rows here, and a few rows there.  I'm a couple of inches shy of the underarm shaping, at which point there'll be something to take a picture of.

I think that's it for tonight.  I'd like to finish up some projects this week, but I know better than to make predictions about my knitting.  I'll just say I hope to get some knitting done.

Which is what I hope for all the time.

Sarah

Friday, September 17, 2004

Okay, it's actually late Thursday night as I write this, so please don't panic if it's not Friday yet where you are.  I unexpectedly freaked a bunch of people out yesterday by publishing Thursday's post early Wednesday night.  Apparently I'm in my own time zone here, which is a day ahead of or behind everyone else, depending on when I write my blog entry.  To Linda, especially, I apologize for making you think you had taken the kids to the wrong sport on the wrong day.  That's one of my worst fears in my everyday life here in Sarah land.

Anyway.

Great news from across the border:  those whacky Canadian customs officials neglected to charge any duties or fees whatsoever for the package that I sent earlier this week with the very large dollar amount on the customs form.  Thank GOODNESS!!!!  And thanks to all of you who sent me hints on how to minimize customs fees -- I'll file those for future reference.

My husband and I used to watch the stand-up comedians on HBO way back in the late eighties.  One of my favorites was a female comedian (whose name escapes me right now) who had a routine about crossing the border into Canada and having to answer questions about her job.  When she said she was a "comedian", they thought she said "Canadian", and when she tried to explain what she meant, they ended up saying, sarcastically, "What are you, some kind of comedian?"  There was obviously a lot more to the story than that, but it still cracks me up, and my husband and I use that last line all the time, except we say "What are you, some kind of Canadian?"

Anyone remember that?  I wish I could.

Maybe some day soon I'll do some actual knitting and maybe I'll even take pictures of it, and then I can actually put the pictures here for you to look at.  Wouldn't that be nice?

Not happening today, though. 

Whatever day it is.

Sarah

Thursday, September 16, 2004 (updated)

Thing #1 that I learned yesterday (a good thing):

Thanks to Dr. Brannen, this website, and my webhamster, I figured out how to manually create an RSS feed file and get Bloglines to recognize my humble blog. 

If you're familiar with Bloglines and you'd like to subscribe to my site, you can now do so by clicking on the button in the sidebar over there on the left (in the "It's all about me!" section).  Otherwise, Bloglines doesn't seem to have a clue who I am. 

It's still glitchy, too -- I may have to manually update that RSS feed file every time I write a blog entry.  I'm testing that out with this here blog entry.  If I was using some kind of blogging software, most of this would already have been done for me, but since I've chosen to make my website and blog from scratch, I had to give in and type the html code myself.  Fortunately, it doesn't seem to make a difference that I don't have any idea what any of the html stuff means that I'm typing in -- it's enough to know that it works.

Thing #2 that I learned yesterday (a bad thing):

When you send a package to Canada from Michigan, there seems to be a weird customs ritual performed at the border by which a percentage of the value of the goods inside the package (determined by the Michigander) becomes a customs fee to be paid by the receiver (the Canadian).  When said Michigander is ignorant of this quaint practice and declares the true (and very large) value of the goods on the customs form, the Canadian ends up having to pay a butt-load of money to get said package out of hock. 

Any ideas on how to avoid this?

Thing #3 that I learned (when I posted this entry the first time):

Bloglines doesn't seem to recognize when I update my blog.  I'll have to keep working on that.  Sorry!

Thing #4 that I learned (a little bit later):

Patience is a virtue.  Bloglines found me eventually.

Thing #5 that I learned (that will make Teresa very happy):

I prefer repairing Intarsia to knitting it:

Sarah

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Sweaterbaby is now a regular attendee of the Tuesday night knit-ins.  She has, as a matter of fact, totally immersed herself into the world of knitting.  See for yourself:

The issue is that as I weave with their technique my stitches alternate row gauge!  Difference is big enough that it almost looks like a slip-stitch pattern... one little stitch - one long stitch - one little.....all the way around. I also get some of that weaved color peeking through that I think will block out.

You will definitely get some added texture when using the Philosopher's Wool way of catching every other stitch, for a number of reasons. One is the every-other-stitch thing. Another is that their yarn isn't spun perfectly evenly -- it's a little thick and thin in spots, and some colors are spun a little thinner than others (they use a few different mills) and that accounts for some of the different sized stitches.

I tried using their method with a Dale of Norway sweater using Heilo, which is a VERY smooth wool, and it looked awful -- so it's not a technique you can use for every Fair Isle sweater. Part of what makes it work is the uneven-ness of the Philosopher's Wool yarn -- it hides some of the inconsistent stitch sizes.

What can you do to even the stitches out a bit? Two things I can think of. Three, really.

First, don't pull too tightly when you're catching a yarn across the back. Yank the stitches on the right-hand needle to the right as often as you can -- it becomes automatic pretty quickly. That's also an Elizabeth Zimmerman technique for keeping the floats nice and loose.

Second, make sure you're not catching stitches directly above stitches you've already caught. For example, say you're looking at an area that's seven stitches wide. On the first row, catch on the second, fourth and sixth stitches. On the next row, catch no the third and fifth stitches. Does that make sense? When the colors are changing a lot it's a little harder to keep track of, but it keeps the fabric from looking like it's corrugated with vertical ribs.

And third, you can just embrace the texture and make peace with it. Their sweaters are not nice and smooth. If you have access to a model, take a close look at it. One of their alligator tooth sweaters (I forget what it's really called, but it's zig-zaggy) was hanging in my local yarn shop, and it was corrugated in a BIG way. Still pretty, though.

Regarding the color poking through -- that's a result of the thick and thin yarn as well, and also of bright colors peeking out from behind dark colors, and vice versa. My two Philosopher's Wool sweaters both use black as their main colors, and the black yarn seemed to be a bit thinner than the other colors, which allowed them to show through from behind. As you look at little areas, that can be particularly bothersome, but when you step back and look at the whole sweater, you don't really notice it.

One of my students used much smaller needles than she should have and was able to eliminate most of the problems you're noticing, but she ended up with very stiff fabric that wasn't comfortable to wear, so I wouldn't advise doing that.

Sarah

Monday, September 13, 2004

I was planning on telling you that I had unsuccessfully swatched for Celtic Dreams this weekend.  Well, "unsuccessfully" isn't exactly the right word.  I could have hit gauge, and the sweater would have turned out fine, but the yarn I was going to use is Alice Starmore Bainin in a beautiful red.  I originally intended to use it for the barn coat in one of the Alice Starmore books (I'm blanking on which one right now -- Stillwater?), and then I was going to use it for the A-line Aran in a past issue of Knitter's Magazine.  I finally decided to use it for Celtic Dreams, and so it's been sitting in a box with the pattern for a few years, waiting ever so patiently.

I got it out this weekend and started a swatch, but remembered halfway through that I already have a beautiful red Aran sweater.  I made Bed and Breakfast from Interweave Knits out of a rich red merino from Kimmet Croft Fibers last year.  Do I really need TWO red Aran pullovers?  No, probably not. 

So I had already decided to start shopping around for something else to use for Celtic Dreams, since nothing in my stash will do (darn -- I have to go yarn shopping!). 

Then I got an emergency e-mail from Sweatergirl.  She's bailing on the Celtic Dreams knit-along.  Well, not bailing, exactly, but postponing indefinitely.  Due to a lack of appropriate yarn.  Hmm.  I think we have a yarn buying expedition in our future, Sweatergirl.  Wait!  I have an idea!  Let's do a shop-along!  Who wants to join us?  We can all go shopping for yarn for a sweater!  I'm much more likely to complete THAT something-along than any something-alongs that require actual knitting.

Anyway.

I think I'm back to making the A-line Aran out of the red Bainin.  Yeah, another red Aran, but it's a cardigan, not a pullover.  So there.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I worked a bit on Randomly Slanted, which had been stalled for various reasons.  While at Woven Art on Sunday, I lengthened the sleeves a bit so they'll be easier to sew in.  I've also decided to re-do the crocheted edging in the bumpy yarn rather than the smooth yarn, and using more stitches, which should loosen it up a bit and allow it to be an inch or so bigger (or so I hope).  Haven't done that part yet, though.

Okay, so from the previous paragraph you can ascertain that the reasons for stalling include

(a) the sleeves were too short

(b) the sleeves weren't joining to the body properly

(c) the crocheted edging in the smooth yarn looked crappy

(d) crocheting with bumpy yarn sounds difficult

(e) the sweater is a little smaller than it needs to be

(f) all of the above

The correct answer is (f), in case you were wondering.

I have no interim photos of Randomly Slanted to show you, so you'll just have to wait until it's done and then you can nod wisely and say "Ah, yes, that looks so much better!"

You'll have to trust me on that one.

Sarah

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Today I have some poor quality photos, some missing photos, some questions, and a little pat on the back for myself.  Sound intriguing?  Read on.

I finished up Phase Five (?) of my Secret Knitting while watching Resident Evil on DVD in preparation for seeing Resident Evil: Apocalypse in the theater today (oh, the sacrifices we make for our loved ones).  Here's a (very blurry) sneak peek at the knitting:

I made good progress on my Red Stash Sweater this weekend, although not as much as I had hoped.  It goes very quickly when I actually work on it.  I'm using size 8 U.S. needles, which are HUGE compared to the 3s and 4s I usually use.

I kept looking at one of the yarns in my sweater that I didn't particularly like.  I made an executive decision this morning to cut it out of the sweater, and to replace it with a yarn I liked better.  Have you done this yet?  It's a much better solution than re-knitting the whole piece.  Here's what you do (more or less):

You feed knitting needles through the stitches in a row above and a row below the part you want to remove.  Cut out the middle so you're left with live stitches on both needles.  Starting with the "live" stitches on one of the two needles, knit the new section.  Stop when you have one row left to go, then work that last row by grafting (using kitchener stitch) the new section to the live stitches on the other knitting needle. 

I've done this to lengthen or shorten sweaters and to change a couple of Fair Isle stripes in a Philosopher's Wool sweater.  What was different this time, for which I felt I deserved a pat on the back, was that the row I created with kitchener stitch was a row of basketweave, rather than the stockinette stitch most of us are used to working with (like when you graft the toe of a sock).

Here's another blurry photo for you (some days I can get the macro feature on my digital camera to work really well.  Today was NOT one of those days):

The top row of the blue/pink multi-colored row is the row I created using kitchener stitch.  Knit 2, purl 2 across.  Can you see it?  Trust me, it's right.  Took me a couple of false starts before I got into the rhythm of it.

Can you tell I'm proud of myself?

I went to the Second Sunday knit-in at Woven Art in East Lansing today.  I was especially eager to go, because I haven't made it to one of their knit-ins for quite a few months.  The owner, Nancy McRay, gave a demonstration of "free lace".  I'm VERY sorry that I didn't even think to take my camera, because you've got to see this technique to believe how easy and beautiful it is.  Here's how it works, in a nutshell:

There's this sticky stuff, kind of like a giant piece of tape, shaped like a long rectangle.  You lay it out on a table, and then stick yarn to it -- ribbon yarn, shimmery yarn, fuzzy yarn, or whatever, in whatever pattern you want -- stripes, diagonals, criss-crosses, flowers, abstract designs, or whatever.  When you're done, you lay a different kind of sticky sheet over the top, which kind of locks everything into place.  Then you get out your sewing machine and machine sew a grid over the whole thing -- horizontally and vertically, at whatever intervals you want.  And THEN, you get to the really cool part.  You throw the whole thing (not the sewing machine, though) in a bucket of water, and the two sticky sheets dissolve away.  Poof.  Gone.  What's left is a very cool scarf (or shawl, or whatever) that I can't really describe.  Let's see if I can find some pictures on-line . . .

Oh, yeah.  That was smart.  YOU try searching for "free lace" on Google.  I found tons of "free" lace patterns but very little "free lace" information.  Luckily, Jennane had a recent post with photos showing the various stages.  Phew!  Here's a sachet made using free lace, and here are some pieces done for art's sake.  And here's a link (removed, sorry!) to where you can get the special paper, a book on free lace, and a kit to make a scarf (again, thanks to Jennane for the link).

Woven Art had some of the free lace paper for sale in both the scarf and stole sizes.  There was also a copy of the book -- I'm not sure if it was for sale or for reference.  This was a WAY COOL technique.  I resisted, however, because these caught my eye as soon as I walked in the door:

I had to use the flash for this photo, so the colors aren't accurate.  They're about half again as dark as you see here (um, that means they're darker).  Purple, yes, but blue, too!!  Hand dyed and spun by my pal Jacquie Vaughan, out of merino, silk and llama.  Mmmmmm!

What else is going on?

Oh, yeah -- I had questions!  What were they?

Nancy McRay is starting a book club at Woven Art.  First meeting is next Sunday, at which they'll discuss which book to read first.  I suggested textile related books.  Susan Lazear mentioned two during one of the classes I took with her at Stitches Midwest:  Women of the Silk and Nylon.  Does anyone out there have any other ideas, along the same vein?  I'd like to offer a list of titles to Nancy.

I'm trying to learn about RSS feeds, so I can make my blog available on Bloglines.  Can anyone help me with that? 

Okay, that should do it for today.

Thanks!

Sarah

Thursday, September 9, 2004

So I went through all my works in progress, sorted and prioritized them with what I hoped were realistic expectations for getting things done in a timely manner, and then I updated my project lists over there on the right hand side of your screen.  See them?  If it's been a few days, you may have to scroll (up? down?) back to the top to see them.  If it's been more than a few days, never mind, because by then I'll probably have re-done my system yet again.

Anyway.

When I was going through my yarn closet, I came across the giant tote bag that has been the long-time home of what I creatively refer to as the Red Stash Sweater (you'll notice that the Red Stash Sweater is nowhere to be found on my project lists).  I was trying to be artsy and random while working on my Red Stash Sweater (which, of course, includes many brand spankin' new yarns I had to go out and buy in order to have enough stash to make a Red Stash Sweater), but that effort evaporated quickly and I had to start charting out the interplay of colors (shades, really, since it's all red), textures and stitch patterns.  Sweatergirl knows what I'm talking about -- she's been trying to put random stripes into a needlepoint project, and has been having trouble with the "random" part of the process.

The Red Stash Sweater has been marinating for a very long time (I had two different cats when I was working on it the last time -- which is at least three years ago), because I had decided it was a failure.  The now carefully-planned-out horizontal stripes weren't going to be particularly flattering, and I was running out of ideas for stitch patterns, which I was trying to vary across the length of the knitted piece.  I had toyed with the idea of turning the horizontal stripes into vertical stripes, but then got distracted (what? huh?) and stuffed the giant tote bag in the bottom of the yarn closet.

I brought it out last night with the intention of ripping out the thirteen or so inches that I had done, in the hope that I could use the yarn for some other Red Stash project to be named at a later date.  The Red Stash Sweater was history.

I couldn't do it.

I held that piece of knitting up in front of me and fell in love with the yarn all over again, and I couldn't tear it out. 

I re-packed the Red Stash yarn into a big, flat, plastic box (not randomly, mind you -- there's a highly detailed system in place there):

And then I went and stood in front of a mirror and studied those thirteen inches of red fabric I was holding in front of myself. 

I figured out that one of the stripes currently on an edge needed to be in the middle (vertically, of course), and then I picked out the cast on row stitch by stitch, stuck a needle into the newly live stitches, and set off in the other direction.  I'm doing a mirror image on either side of that central stripe, so no further brain power is required in a color/texture/stitch pattern kind of way. 

What I DO have to figure out, however, is how I'm going to turn this into a sweater.  Pullover?  Cardigan?  V-neck?  Shallow scoop? 

I'm picturing two identical squares for the front and back.  Drop shoulders.  Short rowed garter stitch sections (gussets?) to connect the two pieces at the shoulders, forming a shallow, squared-off neckline.  Long sleeves knit lengthwise with more short rowed garter stitch for the shaping part.  A garter stitch band at the bottom and the cuffs.  I can almost see it in its finished form.  I'm still not sure if it's a cardigan or a pullover yet (I'm leaning toward cardigan).  I'm not even nervous about the short rowing -- I've gained enough confidence with the technique to use it as a design element (I think).

As of tonight (24 hours after its death sentence was to be carried out), I've got the back (or maybe the front, since it still may be a pullover) done.  I don't have any plans for tomorrow, so I may get a big chunk of the front (or back) knit up.  I want to get to the shoulders before I forget what I'm doing.

Can you tell I'm excited about this project?  A little time (three or so years) spent marinating can be a good thing.

Can you tell I've completely forgotten about the carefully sorted and prioritized project lists up there on the right hand side?

Can you tell I don't care?

Sarah

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

The weekly knit-in was at my house last night. 

Ever since my oldest son was tiny, the knitters have descended on our household for one night a month, and we've welcomed them with open arms.  My knitting friends are definitely family -- we've been together through births and deaths, weddings and divorces, first days of school and college graduations.  I've decided that however long I've been doing this (ten years?  twelve years?) has been long enough, and that it's time for somebody else to take a turn.  It's going to be different, not having the knitters here, and maybe I'll change my mind, but for now I'm just glad that my kids will be able to get to bed on time.

I'm not leaving the Guild, I'll still be at all the knit-ins I can get to, and I'm not going to stop knitting or teaching, so don't anybody worry.  It was just time for a change.

Speaking of change, here's my friend Ann:

Hi, Ann!  Ann is wearing a SWEATER that she knit for HERSELF, as a result of my Sweater Design class this summer.  Doesn't it look great?  Ann is usually seen knitting baby blankets or scarves for other people, so this was definitely a well-deserved change.  And look!  It fits!  Yay, Ann!  When's that vest going to be done?

Here's what I've been doing:

This is the back of Son Number Two's Entrelac pillow, which was supposed to be his birthday present back in May.  The plan is for two tightly knit triangles of garter stitch, joined with a zipper to make a square (geometry in action!).  I've only ever sewn one zipper into a knitted garment before (BADLY), but I've successfully coached someone through a zipper installation (those who can't, teach!) and at Stitches Midwest I heard about a cool way to add zippers which sounded like fun (yes, I said FUN).  I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.  Until then, it's a secret, in case it doesn't work, in which case I'll deny I ever said anything about it..

Speaking of Stitches, I owe you an explanation of how I made that button pictured in my August 23 entry.  Oh, here it is again so you don't have to go looking for it:

Christine Bylsma taught us how to make finger cord, which is not the same process as finger knitting or lanyard making, although the end result may be the same as what you get when you use a lucet.  I'm not sure -- I'll have to research that a little better.  No, the cord in those photos looks different from what I made.  Never mind.

ANYWAY, I can't tell you how to make finger cord.  Partly because Chris swore us all to secrecy, but mostly because I don't know how I could explain it in writing.  There is an explanation and a picture in the back of Nicky Epstein's first book, Knitted Embellisments, so you can go there and try it out.  Oh -- it's described in two places -- page 239 (Ties) and page 264 (Glossary).

So you make a really long finger cord.  I think we started with three or four yards of a sock weight or fingering weight yarn.  I used Koigu.  You could also do a braid, a tiny i-cord, a little twisted cord, or whatever.

Then you just stick it to an existing button with some fabric glue.  I spiralled mine from the center to the outer edge.  I cut it off too soon, so it doesn't cover the sides of the button, which I regret.  If you cover a differently shaped button (square, triangle, etc.), you should start from the outer edge and work your way in.

This concludes the button-making portion of our program.

Sarah G. sent me this cool button for our Celtic Dreams knit-along:

Sleeping sheep -- Celtic Dreams.  Get it? 

Thanks, Sarah G.!!!!

Sarah P.

Tuesday, September 7, 2004

Too sleepy tonight.  Check back later tomorrow morning . . .

Zzzzzzz.

Sarah

Sunday, September 5, 2004

So we drove over to Lake Michigan for the weekend.  Did anyone miss me?

Michelle repeatedly encountered sub-standard service on Friday, just in time for the Labor Day holiday.  We had similar service this weekend at our hotel, at two different restaurants, and even at the ice cream stand.  Doesn't anybody in the service industry take pride in their work anymore?  Don't answer that.  It was just a busy weekend for everybody, I guess.  We still had fun!

What did we do?

On Friday, the boys went to Michigan's Adventure, leaving me alone for eight hours with nothing to do. 

EIGHT HOURS!

I was so happy.

I just happened to have my ShopFinder from Knitter's Magazine with me, and had been busy on the drive over cross-referencing Michigan towns with the Michigan map.  I knew that the Fiber House in Grand Haven would be one of my stops, but I discovered that the Wildwood shop in Norton Shores was close by, too.  Thank you, ShopFinder!

Look what I found at Wildwood:

Okay, yeah, it's purple yarn.  Big surprise.  Mountain Twilight Merino Ribbon, from Mountain Colors.  Mmmmm.  And Annie's book, which I'm enjoying.  Will Combined Knitting save my ribbing?  Only time will tell.

Then I drove down to Grand Haven.  I parked on Washington Avenue and went in search of the Fiber House, which I had discovered on last year's foray to the wild, western shores of Michigan.

Couldn't find it.  Walked up and down, stopped and had lunch, walked up and down some more, and finally stumbled across it.  The sign is down, presumably because it has changed hands recently.  The windows are kind of dark, so you can't see what's inside unless you get really close. 

My car was parked directly in front of it.

Argh.

Anyway, I didn't see any yummy fibery stuff that I had to bring home, but I did find these:

I like Valentina Devine's pillow and Norah Gaughan's cardigan in the Interweave Knits Crochet issue.  Will I make them?  Hmm.  The pillow?  Probably.  The cardigan?  Someone is going to have to convince me that the sleeves will look okay without any shaping.  Do I crochet?  Only at gunpoint.  I've been half-heartedly trying to learn, off and on.  I'm even thinking of cannibalizing my stalled "Red Stash Sweater" and adapting Annie Modesitt's child's cardigan to an adult size.  That sounds awfully ambitious, though.  We'll see.

Then I drove around some more, checked into our hotel, and got out my knitting.  I had taken two projects to finish up:  Randomly Slanted, which needs a little alteration before I can sew the sleeves on, and the Hooded Scarf I made last winter, which was returned to me for a hood modification.  So which did I choose to work on while I waited for the amusement park to close?  Why, I cast on for a completely new project, of course.  Wouldn't you?  Not the Merino Ribbon I had just bought, unfortunately.  It was something I can't show you right now (sorry!).  Another phase of my Secret Knitting (I've lost track of what phase I'm on). 

Saturday found us at the beach, on a hot, sunny day with no wind at all (much to the chagrin of the wave jumpers).  You know how some amateur photographers cut off people's heads in their photos?  I managed to cut off everyone's bodies:

That takes talent.

The sun and I don't get along too well, so instead of frolicking in the (lack of) waves, I spent some quality time with my new friend Jonathan:

Jonathan and I were learning how to sound out the French vowels (I've decided to learn to at least READ French, although I'd like to read it with the proper accent). 

Sunday (today) found us back at the beach.  Still no waves, so we went hiking up the dunes instead.  Son Number One and I took the stairs, which only went part of the way up.  My husband (will he be offended if I call him Husband Number One?) and Son Number Two took the scenic route:

They made it all the way to the top.  Barefoot.  In the burning hot sand. 

Looking back down from my lookout point:

Not as impressive as the Sleeping Bear Dunes we visited a few years ago, but a cool outing regardless.

Okay, does that make up for the lack of photos recently? 

Amber wants to knit Celtic Dreams, too, so she's on the knit-along list.  Sarah G. offered to make us a button.  Cool -- thanks!

I'm headed for my very own bed -- in a room with an air conditioner that doesn't sound like a jackhammer. 

'Cause after two nights of that, I could use some rest.

Sarah

Thursday, September 2, 2004

Did I mention that I'm on vacation?  I mean, like, nothing at all to do.  Nothing on the calendar.  No classes until next Thursday.  No kids' activities.  Nothing.

Happy sigh.

You'd think I'd use this time off wisely -- answering the e-mail that's been building up since, um, mid-June (yikes!), writing the long-promised patterns, cleaning a few things . . . but no.  I've been going out to lunch a lot, taking long walks, and reading a few books.  I even cooked a few meals.

Bigger, happier sigh.

I played around with my sidebars today, rearranging things, adding some links . . . does anyone want to make a button for a Celtic Dreams knit-along?  Please?  I was coherent long enough to download a Celtic font and put a box around it, but then I sort of petered out (I've been taking nice long naps, too).

I had a little pep talk with myself this afternoon, and I think I can hold off on starting a new project until I get some finished ones under my belt.  I shuffled some papers (various knitting to-do lists sorted in various configurations) and realized that I only have about 8 or 9 projects actually ON THE NEEDLES.  Amazing.  I thought I had lots more (LOTS more), but some I'm never going to finish, so they can come OFF the needles, some I haven't actually started, so those don't count as WIPs, and one is a repair, which is why I say 8 or 9 -- I don't think that it counts, but I should finish it anyway.

Why do I care about getting the in-process projects done before the third Sunday in September?  Debbi guessed that I'm going to join her spinning group.  No, Debbi -- not even tempted, but thanks anyway.  Sharon hoped it wouldn't interfere with the Master Knitters group that starts that same day.  No, Sharon, it won't, because it's the Master Knitters group that I'm worried about! 

Here's the deal: 

I started working on my TKGA swatches back in April, when the whole TKGA knit-along thing started.  I came to a screeching halt with the 1x1 ribbed swatch.  Since when does my ribbing look so bad?  Is that why I never use 1x1 rib?  Egads!

I tried a couple things to fix the awfulness, but nothing helped, so I threw everything in a bag, and there it still sits.

Flash forward to now.  I'll be hosting the Master Knitters group for ThreadBear, starting the third Sunday in September.  I'm going to make a concerted effort to alter my knitting technique in order to even out the apparent gauge differences between my knits and my purls.  You understand that?  I'm going to CHANGE THE WAY I KNIT.  That's a scary concept, but I'm kind of excited about it.

So I can't be in the middle of any projects, can I?

Hey, if Tiger Woods can start from scratch, I guess I can, too.  Of course, he's not as good as he used to be . . .

But I bet he didn't have to finish a backlog of golf rounds before he made the switch.

Sarah

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

I'm having blog/website/e-mail/stats page issues, which I'll have to ask my webmaster (webhamster!) to look at.  In the meantime, I'll go ahead and write a blog entry in the hopes that it will publish and you can have something new to look at.  I can't see it, but hopefully you will.

I'm wearing my Basketweave U right this very second, and have been all day.  I think the neckband needs to be re-done, because it is currently pulling the front up a smidge (you can see it in the photos from Monday.  Karen asked (among other things) whether the neckband was i-cord.  Nothing so fancy, I'm afraid.  I picked up stitches in the normal fashion, purled one row, and then bound off while purling.  Makes a nice little border that rolls to the inside, covers the sloppy edge stitches, and doesn't detract from the stitch pattern.  I think I'll pick up a few more stitches which should allow it to have a little deeper scoop.  Or is it okay?  What do you think? 

Theresa and Karen (again) asked where Stitches Midwest is moving to.  It will be held in Rosemont, Illinois next year, which is by Chicago's O'Hare Airport, I believe.  That's all the information I have right now, but I bet you can find more on their website.

I read an essay recently which suggested making resolutions at the beginning of the summer or at the beginning of the school year, rather than at the beginning of the calendar year.  That makes a lot of sense to me.  I tend to make resolutions fairly often -- why wait for a new year?  Of course, that means I'm breaking them just as often.  Such is life. 

Typical resolutions I have made (and broken):

Send Christmas cards so people don't think we've dropped off the face of the Earth (that one tends to be a New Year's resolution, and has been broken for three years straight).

Finish a bunch of old knitting projects before starting any new ones (that one comes up about every quarter -- and dies a quick, painful death every time).

Walk a couple of miles a few times a week (I'm always good about that when school starts -- I take Keiko to the bus stop with the kids in the morning and then she and I set off walking as soon as the bus pulls away from the curb.  The onset of cold weather will bring this one to a screeching halt).

Eat smaller quantities of more healthful foods (I'm doing pretty well maintaining this one, although my food journal entries are kind of scarce these days).

Try not to go insane (this is a daily resolution, broken involuntarily just as often, usually before breakfast).

And here's a new one for this year: 

Try not to be so negative. 

I'm having trouble with this one.  I've always said that if I didn't have anything to complain about, I'd have nothing to say. 

Anyway.

All of the aforementioned resolutions are currently active.  The one I'm struggling with right now is the one about finishing knitting projects (who isn't struggling with that one?  If you raised your hand, seek medical attention immediately -- there's something wrong with you!).  I have a bunch beside my chair that just need an hour here or an hour there, but Celtic Dreams is whispering my name.  And I hear there's a St. Brigid knit-along, and I promised Sister Number Two one of those a few years ago. 

Remind me to tell you why it's so important to finish up my old projects.  It has something to do with the third Sunday in September, but I don't want to go into it right now.  Tomorrow, hopefully.

Update:  It looks like the website/etc. issues have been resolved (speaking of resolutions!).  We think there was an uncooperative e-mail in my sarahpeasley.com inbox that caused my sarahpeasley.com-related pages to freeze for 30 minutes every time Outlook tried to download it (the guilty e-mail message) -- which was about every thirty minutes -- which meant my pages were constantly frozen.  On my computer only, mind you, so all y'all were fine the whole time.  We finally got smart enough to shut Outlook down long enough to go find the e-mail and get rid of it (there were about fifty, actually -- I'm not sure which was the culprit).

Anywho . . . all better now!

Sarah

Previous month's archive