New Project, pillow

I had not realized how much I rely upon Ravelry. One of the patterns for the fiber club, was Uyvonne Bigham’s “Spiral Star Pillow”. The book it came from is listed on Ravelry, but that pattern is not. Uyvonne Bigham does have patterns listed on Ravelry, even ones from that book, just not this one. [ETA. I added it. When I added my project to Ravelry, it asked me, so I filled out their form and it is right there now.]

The pattern is actually available as a PDF from free-knitpatterns.com which requires you to give them an email address. However someone kindly added a listing to bugmenot and I used that. I would not necessarily recommend them. The PDF is chock full of ads for Creative Knitting. I guess that will be a magazine I will never buy.

On the whole, that makes me a little disgusted about the supposed value-add of a pattern inclusion to the group shipments, knowing that one of the few patterns that was not just an accounting exercise was actually free despite the copyright notice at the bottom. It was, however, much much more difficult to find because of the lack of Ravelry listing. No one in the group made this pattern and linked it.

I am making it out of Silk Road yarn in a sort of green-gray color. It has been surprisingly easy with the exception of the cast-on. I finally just did a faux-round cast-on and left a longer tail to embroider a nice decorative element that will coincidentally cover any weirdness. The project is named after the yarn and the “spiral” and “star” aspect, Maragheh Pillow. (That is an astronomical observatory in Iran, which is a Silk Road country. It was chosen at random from appropriate astronomical terms because I liked the name.)

The pattern claims that you need a skill level of 3 out of 4. But it is explicitly written out, there is no purling, and it only uses knit, yarn-over, k2tog. If this is a level 3 project, then you must need to be a super-genius to make a BSJ (well, actually that might help since the BSJ does not have any step-by-step instructions, just general advice.) Seriously this has been much easier than expected.

From pillow

My next new project is going to be a button-closure cowl.

Alpaca+silk purse from a Wota’s Ear

I realized that this month’s fiber club project represents a mis-match for me. I love the pattern, “Viking Bag”, because of the cables. From a construction standpoint, well, when I made bags a couple years ago, that was the shape I used and I created it on the fly— if anyone can be said to have “created” a flat rectangular bag. I also really like the fiber, which is undyed alpaca+silk in a sort of cafe au lait  or milk chocolate color.  But why on Earth would you make a bag from alpaca?

Obviously this is the time when really durable yarn would be best suited. If it were also inexpensive so various dimension expanding techniques could be experimented, that would be ideal. Thus my plan to use Knitpick’s Wool of the Andes. If you have a pattern that talks about knitting a bag in the round with gussets, please let me know. 

Now what I am wondering is what should the melts in your hand fiber become? I can choose pretty much any size yarn. I can get about 200 yards of worsted weight [4-4.5] yarn from 4 ounces. I get about 400 yards of [2.5] yarn from the same amount.  (Those are conservative estimates, but alpaca tends to be fussy.) So I can make almost any monochrome light accessory project. That opens up the choices too much. 

I have some black alpaca fiber, so there is a theoretical possibility of a contrast color, but make your suggestions assuming otherwise. And yes, this is a call for suggestions.

Socks Hopping

On the plus side, I am no longer a photo slacker. I have tolerable pictures of everything I bought. I posted the photos of my completed socks. I even avoided making the joke about being caught flat-footed. If you want to see more of the completed Raspberry Friday Socks, the thumbnail here links to the full-size image in the album. Or you can look at the previous post.

 

 

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Today’s project was to pick the new sock yarn and choose a pattern. I know I want to make the “Nagini” socks from the Knitpicks “Essential” yarn. Unfortunately,  I knew right away which yarn I wanted to use next— because I am suckered in by the shiny just like everyone else. But hey, I bought that Schaefer Heather yarn for a reason.

 

So I did some looking to see if I was attracted to anything particularly. The new yarn is a bit stiff and holds stitch definition well, but I am easily dissuaded by complicated projects. I even spent some time reading the textures/motifs book I borrowed from the library. Nothing seems perfect. I did a swatch in the quilted lattice stitch and would pull out all my hair if I had to do it for a whole sock. (I have the perfect 8sts/inch gauge though.)

Before 90 people jump in and recommend “Monkey“, I really dislike that pattern. The alternate versions are somewhat better, “No Purl Monkeys“, “Staggering Monkeys“, and “Los Monos Locos“. But it starts to look like work… like I would be creating my own texture because I would prefer no yarn-overs, I know it will go faster without purling, and I want to go toe-up, and I prefer the ovals to the inverted-Y shapes.

I have come to no conclusions tonight.

Today also had the over-dyeing of the January fiber club yarn. The color is vastly improved from the sickeningly bismuth pink color. Pictures are waiting on the yarn to dry.

Pictures of Stitches West purchases later this week.

Finding the blue something into the deep.

I am blocking my bent scarf today. First real “lace” blocking. Lace being a bit of a misnomer since I just swapped in needles that were 6 sizes bigger every 6th row or so. But that was more interesting than dealing with yarn overs. 

Sock progress has been slower than expected. I am a handful of rounds from starting the heel. But the slog from toe to heel took ages. 

I am looking into my next knitting project and fiber-related things for the year.

Spinning projects are pretty much set. I have that “Source of Gilgamesh” to finish spinning singles for and then its plying. With the fiber club shipment here, I feel some obligation to actually spin it so I can participate— but pink bamboo yarn and a kiddy sweater? Yeah, zero enthusiasm. Who makes unwashable things for children anyway? That has to be on par with giving a kid a one-man band. By the time I finish the SoG yarn, I might need to skip ahead to the February shipment though. I wanted to spin the January shipment and post about it to the Rav group so I could collect praise, but I do not want that enough to interrupt a big and dear project.

Knitting projects upcoming are:

• socks– possibly Leyburns but several people said the pattern is wonky and they had to revise it but I have not found a definitive source and I would like one. Monkeys come highly highly recommended but I just cannot seem to really enthuse over those. 
• Leuca sweater
• hat for me from “Cadberry” yarn — no real patterns in mind but I am thinking something more like a beret.
• neck/hood/capelet thing for me from “Source of Gilgamesh” yarn— I want a cowl thing to have around my neck, but I want it to be able to pull up over my head into a hood. I want it to go around my shoulders and I need it to fasten with buttons instead of being a tube that pulls on like a t-shirt. In other words, even my imagination does not have a good picture  of it. I think what I want is sort of a cross between Little Red Riding Hood’s cape and Romi’s “Ice Queen”. I could easily make the “Ice Queen” flare out and be longer, but it would still have to go over my head. Somehow, even if it was not lacework, I do not think it would fare well from steeking. I want it to be called “Bloo Glooming Hood” and I doubt I will be satisfied until I find something suitable to that title. 

Epic of Yarnpire

¡Happy New Year!

I keep planning to add things to the projects page on Ravelry but not quite getting around to it. I usually have pictures of everything before it goes out the door as a gift, but… I only seem to upload the ones I finished since I started using Ravelry. 

I should include pictures of the bent scarf, but it is a gift for my MIL and I would like it to be a surprise. The pictures are uploaded so if you want to look, help yourself. Keep in mind that it has not been blocked and I fully expect the blocking to beautify it. 100% llama yarn, semi-felted single, bought ages and ages ago before I knew what makes a good yarn.

 I got a new knitting bag. Of course I never go anywhere so who knows why I got it. But we were at the World of Goods warehouse sale and how could I possibly pass up a purple batik bag for $5? I do really like it. It is almost perfect. It would be a better knitting bag if it stood up on its own, if I was sure of the handles’ durability, and if the inside was not black. I can possibly add a cardboard insert to help the freestanding. And if the handles fall off a $5 bag, I am not out too much money. 

 

 

I cast on for my sweater. The yarn is absolutely brilliant in this. It looks better cast on in the sweater than it did skeined or balled. I am wavering on whether I should frog and start again. I did a long-tail cast-on and it looks horrid. I also managed to be a little confused on whether I was going to be using the #6 or #8 needles. But I did start on it. I much prefer the fabric to the #6 swatch, but the body will take about 22500 stitches compared to 15000. That is a huge difference in work and the #8 swatch looks tolerable. I will take some pictures before I frog. I might do a sleeve first. I should definitely take pictures, but eh.

Project-wise, my schedule cleared up a little. The February date for the Woodland Shawl has been put off. I am now doing that for me and I want to do lacework in the summer. It might end up being something that is put up for adoption, but I am knitting it because I want to knit it and there is no pressure.

Currently the plans are spinning for my rainy day scowl. Coming up with a project plan/pattern for the scowl. And sweater. And sucking it up and using the sock yarn that taunts me daily. (“I am an adult, sock knitting is not too hard. I will master it. And then I will have an entire repertoire of woolly socks and my feet will never be cold again!”)

I have decided that I am extremely funny and should have a job naming things. For example:

 I have named “Knave of Hearts, Jack of All Spades”.

 

 

 

 

The new (proto)yarn, I want to call “Mood Indiglo” but I suspect I would get a lot of complaints from Timex and Billy Joel’s attorneys. It may end up being something like “cobalt cutin” for the dust that appears on blueberries and grapes. Today’s research suggests the Epic of Gilgamesh was written on lapis lazuli tablets… so I am leaning toward “Source of Gilgamesh”.

Project progress

I am almost done with a whatever you call a shaped scarf meant to be worn indoors as a decorative thing. It is not for me. I know I am almost done because I am almost out of yarn. I combined that mitered corner idea (double-decrease at the diagonal) to make a U shape thing. I am making it out of garter stitch because the only time I have done this was for that EZ pattern, and I know the corner is the proper 90 degree angle when done every other row on garter stitch. I found a ball of navy blue llama wool in Aran weight. I know I planned to use it with something else, but I bought it years ago, so repurposing is a good idea, especially since I cannot remember what I wanted.

I found a ball of white raw silk. I could come up with some lacy design and make a buttoned neck wrap thing. That will require some thinking.

Next on the stack is a mobius ring from fawn alpaca. Well, maybe. I know I do not want something made from that and I need a neck warming thing a lot more than I need to make gifts.  Plus the recipient is the one who was getting that Woodland shawl (there are several with that name, but it’s the Nikol/cupcake one). That seems like it might be overly ambitious. 

I have not made any progress on my sweater. I talked myself out of the helix idea because of the hassle and because after I sketched it, I realized it would just look striped and horizontal stripes are not very attractive. I think I could come up with a way to visibly spiral something using short rows, but that seems like biting off way more than I can chew knitting-wise. For making the ordinary sweater, well, I just need to start on it. 

No spinning progress. I found an end on the bobbin with the catastrophically broken single, but am still very bummed. 

The hand things and hat were well received. And now I can show them off here.

I Queue This

I need to make a list of things I want to have, please bear with me. 

• I want a woolly blanket. I would like a throw blanket made from superwash wool. (My mother once said she wanted a “really big throw” that would cover both her and my father on a chilly evening. So I got her a queen-size fuzzy blanket that was edged on all four sides and put a sticker over the “Queen” sticker on the bag. The sticker said “THROW BLANKET”. Because to me the difference is just nomenclature. But in this case, I am looking for a small thing to pull over my legs while I am watching TV, not to share.) Since I will be knitting it myself feel free to suggest stuff that is ridiculously easy.  I am not one of those knitters who looks for fancy stitch patterns or colorwork to keep my interest. I would have no problems with an all-garter blanket. I don’t think it would hold up all that well without some sort of edging. If you have a suggestion, feel free to drop in via comment or email. 
• I want a cowl neck sweater. I have the yarn for this. The needles are free. I am just getting my head together for winging it with intent. I am looking at Knitting in the Old Way for the round neck sweater wireframes, because I like that style better than the pure raglan. And I should be able to pick up at the neck for the cowl. 
• I want a cowl/hood thing that sits around my neck normally to block chills while I am at my desk but can be pulled up if I go outside. 
• I want a black cabled vest. Um. Tyrolean style. But that one will take ages to plan out, so I would like something simple and bulky-weight for now. If you have a pattern to recommend– preferably one that does not have “arrows” of cable pointing out the breasts— I would appreciate it. I have been vaguely considering “Abrazo” from Knitty or the Amy King vest pattern from 2004’s Knitty (it has some name like “vest” so I just cannot remember it).
• I want to make a bag from Wensleydale yarn. Pattern chosen is the “Slant Pocket Bag” linked in sidebar. And the variegated yarn is spun. I have some Knitpicks WOTA if I want to use that. Or I could spin some naturally black Wensleydale. That might need to have an adoptive parent to chivvy me along.
• I want woolly socks. I want woolly socks enough to actually knit some. Maybe. Assuming there is less fail than the previous attempts. Just in case, could someone leave a pointer to the “I Suck at Socks Support Group”? 
• During the summer I want to knit a shawl for me. It would be really nice if there was something I could pull over my shoulders when I am going to be sitting still but which is easily doffed when it is time to cook supper or do laundry. I know I would not want to do lacework in the winter. 
• In 2010 I will make myself house gloves from something ludicrously soft+expensive. 

 

This list is not necessarily organized. I have not finished the yarn for the cowl/hood thing. So I will probably start the sweater soon. In between I had a gift idea that I might do. I think I want to do a itty bitty scarf/shawl thing from navy blue worsted llama yarn. I will call it a “scəwl”.