Tag Archives: Knitscapades

Choices, choices

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I’m trying to come up with a portable, not too complex and not too big knitting project to take with me to Norway.

Bunch-o-Yarn

I have an enormous stash of beautiful, gorgeous yarn to choose from (what’s pictured above is but a teensy sampling), but lately I just don’t know what to do with any of it.

One of the great ironies of my impressive yarn collection is that I’ve bought most of it while vacationing (I like to drive my travel partners nuts with my insistence on visiting local yarn shops — known in knitster lingo as the LYS). That means that I buy a skein here, a skein there, maybe two, and that results in not a necessarily enough yarn to use for most projects.

For example, I’ve always wanted to make Clapotis by Kate Gilbert (Knitty, 2004)but it requires 820 yards, which is quite a bit. I also really like Colour Affection by Veera Välimäki, and it looks like you might be able to use say, three different colour ways that work well together, but I can’t be sure without buying the pattern first. All I can find out from the description is that it requires 1155 to 1200 yards, total.

Izhitsa by Patusha looks lovely but the pattern isn’t available in English yet, and the yardage needed is unknown. The Weekend Shawl by Anne Kuo Lukito is also lovely; it needs between 598 and 750 yards depending on what yarn weight you use and what size you make.

Any suggestions? I suspect some form of lace is in order but I don’t want anything overly complicated for this trip. I could make socks, the ultimate, portable knitting project, but I don’t often wear handmade socks, and I definitely want to make something for myself. Hmmm…

Nostalgia… beer drinking socks

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Socks with Pints On

One year after trying to make SpillyJane Knit’s Socks with Pints On for Chris the first time, I  attempted them again, this time with lots of mods to try make the damn things fit Chris’s weirdly wide feet. The pattern is available here. I would deem my effort mostly successful.

Firstly, I increased the needle size from 2.75 to 3.25, and I increased the yarn from fingering weight to sport weight (which explains the colour variation from the previous pair of socks — while both socks were knit with Knit Picks Stroll, they have very different colours available between those weights).

Next, I cast on 76 stitches per sock, instead of the 64. This added an extra pint of beer to each repeat (i.e. added two pints of beer total) of the colourwork chart. The other major modification was to end the colour work chart before the heel, rather than carrying it through the heel, gusset, and instep/sole of the sock. This was where we were experiencing the most challenge getting the sock over Chris’s heel, because colourwork usually tends to not have as much elasticity as regular knitting.

From here the mods get more niggly and I’m not totally thrilled with the resulting looseness of the heel; I don’t think I made the best choices here. I haven’t quite got the hang of modifying socks in a way that maintains the right ratios between heel and instep, so that the sock fits properly. If anyone out there has some kind of trick for this I’m all ears. BTW I hate math.

Anyway, they turned out wearable and Chris is happy. Me, I just wish I could have a beer.

Socks with Pints On

Beer drinking socks

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Is a smoking jacket really meant for smoking? I have no idea, but these socks are made for drinking.

Socks with Pints On

Socks with Pints On

These were originally intended as a Christmas gift for Chris, and as you can likely guess, that didn’t work out so well. I posted here about my knitting fail when I finished the first of this pair. I was not about to rip back, so I decided to make the second sock and call them mine, since the first sock (barely) fit me. The second of the pair is a little looser than the first, as seems to be the way with my colourwork projects. Putting on that first sock kind of freaks me out as I wrench the poor tight thing over my heel.

Socks with Pints On

Socks with Pints On

Anyway, I do intend to make Chris a pair of his own. I made this pair with Stroll by Knitpicks, and I had bumped up the needle size intending them to be big enough for him, but no luck. I instead have ordered Stroll Sport, which is a thicker yarn, and I’ll have to go even bigger with the needles, as well as make some pattern mods. I also plan to just put the pints on the cuff, to allow the sock to be stretchier across the foot/heel, and hopefully, hopefully (note my prayer here to the knitting gods), they’ll fit him. If I ever get around to them. I think I’m good with the colourwork for a while. Maybe it’s time for something a little less risky?

Just in time for spring: mittens!

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Garden Nerd mittens

Garden Nerd mittens

These babies are looooong overdue. I think I started them around this time last year. The hibernated for a while. And then when I picked up the torch this spring to finally get them done, I finished the left mitt, which fit perfectly, and then realized the right mitt was way, way too small. I tried blocking them to see if they’d stretch but no luck. So after much debate I decided to start the right mitt over, and cut off the cuff of the original so that at least I could skip doing that part over again, as I knew trying to unravel the mitt from the top, after all its ends were woven in, would only end badly — in say, a trip to the psych ward.

Garden Nerd mittens

Garden Nerd mittens

It’s quite hard to get the right tension when doing colour work, but I think I’ve been doing enough lately, what with the socks, that I’m finally getting the hang of maintaining very light tension, which seems to be the key to success. Unfortunately I’ve been experiencing some carpal tunnel lately, especially this past weekend, so the knitting is on hold for a while. Unfortunately I don’t think my sewing is really doing me any favours in this regard, either. So much for my great idea that sewing would take the pressure off any repetitive strain from my knitting. I’m trying to stay off the keyboard as much as possible too, although that’s pretty hard when you work an office job.

Anyhoo, there are some small mistakes in these mitts, and I really wish they had a thumb gusset. If I were to make them again ever, I’d figure out a mod to include one. I just don’t like how restrictive they feel in the thumb area. But they are so cute, I have to overlook it. These are designed by SpillyJane Knits, based in Windsor, Ontario. She has the most amazing colourwork designs, although if I’ve learned anything, I need to size up her patterns a bit as they seem to be on the small side. The greens and brown are Malabrigo sock yarn in Lettuce and Turner, and Cordovan, and the pink and orange are Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply.

It looks like spring is really on the way, with a high of 8 degrees C expected tomorrow, so I likely won’t need them for long but they’re just the thing to get me in the spirit of gardening season.

Meet some FOs

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Mosaic Floor Pillow

Mosaic Floor Pillow

So remember that new sewing machine I mentioned I bought myself before the holidays? I’m IN LOVE. It is incredible. I was withholding full judgment until I got my first real quilting project under its belt, but low and behold, here it is. This is the Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow, designed by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson! fame. I’ll be gifting this tonight to my pal Adria. Every year, I usually ask her what she would like me to make for her birthday, and the last few I’ve knitted her something. But I was itching to put the new machine to the free-motion quilting test, so we decided I would make her a pillow for her bedroom (that’s why it really does NOT go with my brown leather couch at home, pictured here!).

Pillow back

Pillow back

Both the front and back of the pillow are quilted, making the seams of this pillow exceedingly thick — with three layers of batting and six layers of fabric where the overlap occurs on the backside. This made it the ultimate test for my machine, which trucked along sewing with ease. I have every confidence now that I made the right decision buying my Baby Lock Grace.

Pillow detail

Pillow detail

The piecing of this pattern is very versatile and can be done for virtually any size pillow or quilt blocks, and so I think I’ll be using that again. I also love how this pillow uses an overlap at the back for a closure, so no zipper is necessary.

Norwegian Star Hat

Norwegian Star Hat

Next up is this Norwegian Star hat, made for my mom, to match her new winter coat (yes, I know, winter has been going strong for some time now). Her new coat is sort of a tan-purplish grey, making her last hat totally mismatched. I made this with Malabrigo Twist in Terron and Zinc, two colours that are so yummy together. This yarn is deliciously soft. It feels like 100% cotton but it’s merino wool! Mom will get her hat next weekend when they visit the cottage.

Norwegian Star Hat

Norwegian Star Hat

Finally I finished something for Chris that fits. A scarf to match his hat. I used the same yarn, bought from Americo Original. I wouldn’t call this a very soft yarn — in fact I would find it a bit too scratchy for a scarf, but Chris loves it. I really struggled with this scarf; the pattern was killing my hands due to the purling three stitches together repeatedly. But eventually I loosened up the tension and things got easier.

Extra Warm Men's Scarf

Extra Warm Men's Scarf

Both of the above patterns are available for free as Ravelry downloads.

Sick puppy and some knitting FAIL (and success)

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After an epic holiday party on Saturday night at the home of Ecoholic with great friends, great food and great tunes, Chris and I expected to get down to business on Sunday and get this attic insulated already. All the weather reports suggested the conditions would be precipitation-free, but we woke up, hungover, to discover that it was snowing. Steadily. All day. So that was FAIL #1.

FAIL #2: In my attempt to trim Luna’s toenails, I inadvertently got one of them too short (damn black toes!) and she bled like a stuck pig, off and on all day. We tried sealing it up with Crazy Glue (a trick every good survivalist ought to have in his/her back pocket) but she just chewed it off. I finally ran out to get some styptic powder, which helped, but the trick was to keep her from licking at it. You see, she freezes in a kind of panic attack if you put a buster collar on her (one of those cone-head things) so that isn’t really an option. We wrapped it up, we doused it in bitter apple. It was a day-long affair trying to manage her bleeding toe. And I think it caused Monday’s EPIC FAIL (more on this shortly).

Christmas Luna, sporting one of her many new bandannas

Christmas Luna, sporting one of her many new bandannas

FAIL #3: My second batch of French macarons this holiday weren’t exactly an epic fail, but they were yet again missing the proper ‘foot’ and just not the right texture at all. This was after following David Lebovitz’s recipe, in which he chronicled his seven attempts to get them right. They are tasty, yes, and I guess that counts for something. I don’t know if I’ll get another batch going in time for the holidays, even though I swore I would master those suckers this year, and likely I ought to give my poor pancreas a break before I end up in a sugar coma.

Gingerbreads -- success!

Gingerbreads -- success!

FAIL #4: Sock with Pints On fails to fit boyfriend as planned — also nearly fails to fit me. After I finished the sock up to about halfway along the foot section, I decided to ask Chris to try it on, so I could see how much length I needed to give his foot. I haven’t knit socks in ages, but I’ve put in my sock time and I am no novice. What I haven’t done before is colourwork socks, socks with multiple strands of colour carried along to create a design. For the uninitiated, it takes some practice to get the hang of carrying your yarn along at such a tension as to avoid puckering of the fabric and to ensure the fabric has the stretch it needs. Stretch being an important factor for socks. Well. I could barely get this sock over my own heel, let alone Chris’s. I’ve blocked it, but I need the boy to bring his feet home from work so we can see where we stand.

Sock with Pints On

Sock with Pints On

This was perhaps the most stunning fail of Sunday, and the one that really was the last straw for me. For weeks I’d just accepted that Chris’s Christmas present was going to be late, but then I got started and things were going swimmingly, much faster than I’d hoped. I saw light at the end of the tunnel — I had a whole week to get a second sock done! Plenty of time! But alas. This sock is likely not made for walking (…in…by Chris). So perhaps I’ll be the proud new owners of Socks with Pints On.

I do have a plan of attack to start over. I have what appears to be plenty of yarn. I will try, try again, but I plan to expand the pint chart, and I plan to just do the pints on the sock cuff — not the foot. This will mean that the heel, gusset, instep and toes will have lots of stretch because I won’t be carrying along extra colours that could cause more fail. This is my plan, once Chris brings those clunkers home so I can test the lonely singleton sock and see if the blocking made any difference.

I thought perhaps our fail streak had come to an end but alas, we were due for an explosion of fail last night. Luna had experienced some runny poops Monday morning but this isn’t entirely unusual for her. We opted to crate her for the day in case she got that toe bleeding again, at least so the blood could be contained to one place in the house. Chris got home early, felt sorry for the pup and let her out while he dealt with his own bodily needs before taking her out. Those 5 minutes proved to be fatal. An explosion of canine diarrhea like we’ve never seen before found it’s way into nearly every part of the house. I was out enjoying a beer with a friend when I finally noticed the frantic texts. Poor Chris was running multiple batches of laundry on the sanitary setting, had bathed Luna twice, washed the floors three times and cleaned the rug as best he could, all before I got home, but the house still wreaked of poo. FAIL #5.

While he ran out for a meeting I continued to clean the house, the rug at the front door, the towels, re-washed the floor and tried in vein to make the place smell better, simmering some cinnamon sticks on the stove. I was still shampooing the carpet by about midnight. Luna had several messes in her crate despite our getting up in the wee hours to take her out. This morning things were getting much worse and so a trip to the vet ensued. So far as we know it’s purely a stress reaction; we suspect the bleeding toe nightmare might be the cause (so I guess that makes it my fault). Results of a poop sample are pending. She’s had a shot and some pills and some super high-fibre food that should help but as of 3:30 this afternoon she is still needing frequent trips outside to take care of business. Poor girl. She’s all locked up in her crate until we can be sure there won’t be any accidents. Happy start to my holidays!

All this to say that if things really do come in threes like they say, we’re all stocked up, thanks.

But it hasn’t all been fail. I also ended up with quite a nice beret and matching scarf set for my Grama for Christmas. That’s something.

Beret and scarf for Grama

Beret and scarf for Grama

The beret is from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, and the pattern is super easy and quite quick. I never thought I was a fan of berets but after trying this on, I just might have to make one for me. The scarf is a free pattern from Ravelry called Openwork Eyelet Scarf by Jennifer Pace. It was also super easy and the texture is lovely.

Let’s hope it only goes up from here.

Christmas knitting

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So far I’m on pretty good track with my Christmas knitting. I think Chris’s Socks with Pints On will be late but he’s cool with that. I haven’t started those yet, but soon. I’m currently working on a beret and possibly a matching scarf for my Grama, and I just finished two stockings for April and my new baby niece Vaughn, to match the ones I made for my brother and my nephew Magnus, a couple years go.

Family of Stockings

Family of Stockings

If there was something I’d change it would only be that I couldn’t find the pink and tan colours in the original yarn I’d used that suited, so I had to use a different yarn and it is quite different in texture. I don’t think that matters much to April but I’m picky that way!

Mom and daughter stockings

Mom and daughter stockings

Stocking for Vaughn

Stocking for Vaughn

Stocking for April

Stocking for April

That sums it up though, for my holiday knitting. I’d like to do more but I’m not going to make myself crazy over it. I’ve basically been finished Christmas shopping for weeks aside from one or two small things. I ordered almost everything online, and spared Chris (and myself) the pain of roaming any malls. I’m happy to pay for shipping if it means I don’t have to run around among the crazy people and fight for parking, etc.

As for decorations, I picked up some urns for the porch a couple weeks ago and I plan to get some greenery for them shortly from the farm. The urns were not cheap, so I held off on buying any pre-done holiday-themed inserts. We have a few lights I want to put up but since we don’t have the porch railings or posts anymore the way we do them will change a bit. Usually I wrap lights around the railings and while it looks really nice, it’s always a big pain in the bum. I haven’t yet convinced Chris that we should put them along the roof line. I suggested that the other day and he looked at me like I’d just landed from Mars.

In general I’m looking forward to the holidays — I’m looking forward to doing some baking, and I really need a break from work; the crazy there will go on for at least another week and a half before things will settle down. We’ve decided to spend NYE in Boston, which should be fun, although I’ve never been there before. Anyone have suggestions of must-see places?

Rested and rejuvenated

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Sunset at the cottage

Luna & Chris enjoying the remnants of a day at the cottage

So I’ve been MIA from the blogosphere yet again but for good reason. Firstly, I’ve been migrating to a new laptop which hast taken some time to get my Aperture library moved (and to learn Aperture 3, which has been completely overhauled from version 2), getting other software installed and bookmarks and address books ported over.

Also, well, I escaped from the city for most of the last 10 days. First I spent a fabulous weekend riding in the York Regional Forest (Newmarket area) with the good folks from the Ontario Trail Riders Association and Chesley Saddle Club. We had perfect weather, albeit a bit dry and dusty. Thanks to my buddy Leanne for once again loaning me a nag (King, her palomino and often my borrowed hayburner, is my hero — I can only dream of owning such a fabulous mount myself some day).

Then Chris and I packed up Luna, picked up a canoe we bought from Alice and Chris, and booted it up to Coboconk (Coby) to spend the week up there. It was a big week for Luna — she learned how to swim (being a Lab she pretty much took to the water like a fish), had her first boat ride, AND her first canoe ride. Chris and I had life jackets on tight expecting we might have to bail, but she did so great — a total pro. Didn’t even hesitate to jump in from the dock. She needs to learn to keep still and not wander around but the tipping didn’t seem to concern her at all. Unfortunately I think she’s already too big to go on any big backcountry tours (unless it was for a weekend in Killarny), as she doesn’t leave much room for luggage. But if she doesn’t get too much bigger she could still go along on toots around the lake at the cottage.

Sunset at the cottage

Seriously. Can you get any better than this?

Sunset at the cottage

Or this?

I had packed up my quilting project expecting this would be the perfect opportunity for finishing it off, but I ran into a snag when I got to the part that involved the actual quilting. My thread was breaking after quilting only about a half a yard at a time, and the nearest fabric/quilt store was more than an hour away. I did a little research and it appears that a.) I need to use a different needle specifically for quilting and b.) use thread specified for quilting. Who knew? Not me.

Anyway so there it is. Also, I need to finesse my free-motion technique. That is so much harder than it looks. Today I ran out and got some new thread and needles, and I hope to try this out again soon.

Finished Baby Quilt Top

My finished quilt top

My other keep-me-busy project while lounging with a beer was SpillyJane Knit’s Carrot & Beet Mittens, or as I like to call them, my Garden Nerd mittens. Not exactly seasonal in the sense that they’re mitts, but seasonal in that they feature carrots and beets!

Carrot & Beet Mittens

Sort of seasonal, sort of not

Speaking of gardening, since we came back to the city yesterday so we could attend the C’est What Spring Beer Festival, I spent today catching up on my planting. My raised beds got their tomatoes, peppers, chiles, a few more beets and some beans and peas today.

I was terribly negligent in transplanting my seedlings this spring — essentially they just stayed in their little paper pots until today. I even dispensed with hardening off. Hopefully the guys I planted out today handle the adjustment to full sun okay. I’ve just been too busy this year I think.

Of course I had way more seedlings than I have space for so I’ll be finding new homes for those. Those guys have been repotted into bigger digs to help them keep up with the season. I’m sure I won’t have any problem finding takers.

Finally I killed my back and knees weeding the back section of our backyard today. It was such a mess of overgrown violets and other weeds that had grown so big you couldn’t see the perennials I put back there last year. The only thing that didn’t survive the winter was the lupins. I’m planning to divide some hostas and bleeding hearts from another section of my garden to help fill things out back there. I’m determined to make that section look good, if it kills me. Hopefully I can get some mulch back there to help me keep up with things.

Anyway, some video of Luna swimming to come when I get it edited.

The Oatmeal Hat

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Remember that luscious yarn I mentioned last week?

Ecoholic's new hat

Oatmeal hat

I bought this yarn after Adria requested a hat to match a scarf she ordered from Organic Lifestyle. Even though Adria’s birthday isn’t until Valentine’s Day, I finished the hat on Monday night, so I took it over with me to her house on Tuesday since we were hooking up for dinner and I was sure the hat was going to be way too big, so I wanted her to try it on before I wove in the ends. It turned out to be perfect just the way it was. Voila! Early b-day gift.

This yarn varies between roving-like, serious thickness to very tightly wound thinness, which makes for a beautifully varied texture.I originally planned to make this hat with cables but once I got going I could see it would be beautiful as just plain old stockinette stitch. It was a super quick knit. I think I had it finished in about 45 minutes to an hour.

I cast on 40 stitches with 10mm circulars, and worked K2 P2 ribbing for a few rounds, maybe 4 or 5 (I forget because I was just doing everything by eye). It probably would look just as nice as K1 P1 ribbing. The body of the hat is worked until its about 6 inches from the beginning, and then I began decreasing by K2tog every 6 stitches; knitting a round; then decreasing every 5 stitches and so on. By the round in which I was decreasing every 4 or 3 stitches (forget which one) I started decreasing every round until I had I think 5 stitches left. At that point I just pulled the yarn through those stitches and cinched it up tight, weaving in the ends.

Adria is totally thrilled. She calls it her oatmeal hat.

Squishy soft luxuriousness

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No I’m not talking about the puppy, although all those adjectives could be easily used to describe her too. I’m talking here about some gorgeous new yarn that arrived in the mail today, destined to become a birthday gift for a certain Ecoholic.

Off the Hooks handspun merino

Handspun merino by Off the Hooks's Ashley Marcus in Alberta

This handspun merino by Off the Hooks’s Ashley Marcus in Alberta is destined to become a hat, although I haven’t yet got a clue as to a pattern or needle size I’ll use. This yarn is easily categorized as super bulky, so I’ll have to think hard about it and do some more research. I only have a few weeks to figure it out but the yarn will no doubt knit up quickly so I’m sure it will come together. Suggestions are certainly welcome!

Luna - 7.5 wks

Luna

Puppydom is proving to be quite the challenge for all of us. While I’ve done the whole puppy thing before and had dogs all of my life, Chris hasn’t, and Luna is a whole different challenge than puppy Zeus. I got off light with him. Luna requires constant supervision and super-human patience. Chris and I have both flown off the handle at each other a couple of times over the last week or so out of frustration, but I think I’ve found some help that will be useful for all us (thanks Interwebs! You’ve come a long way since I did this last).

First of all, I’ve found a Podcast called Creative Dog Training, which features dozens of episodes that start right from how to pick your puppy to how to start working with him or her from the moment you get home. The fundamentals are laid down in the Respect 101 series, which is exactly where we’re having issues right now. There is a great episode about “puppy biting” that was music to my ears, and I’m sure will be for Chris too, as this is a major area of frustration for him. I’ve already picked up some tips that are in use now (eg. leaving a leash on while she’s roaming about loose, to allow us to a.) catch her more easily when we need to, b.) correct her more effectively when she doesn’t respond to commands or c.) wants to chase a certain very stressed out cat, not to mention many other no-nos. There is really helpful information on teaching the command gentle (which I did with Zeus but with limited effectiveness) and working to teach her to have a “soft mouth” (making high-pitched “ouch” responses to teeth on flesh, for example. Chris has taken this one up with gusto). All in all, it is all important information that will help us lay the ground work towards owning a well-adjusted and extraordinarily well-behaved dog, something we care very deeply about achieving.

The Podcasts are between 10 and 15 minutes on average, quite well edited, and very clear and easy to understand. Accompanying the Podcasts are some online resources, including a web-based class that costs only $10. Unfortunately that seems to be the only “class” they have posted so far. But they do have some trainer blogs, a discussion forum for asking questions, and they seem fairly active. The Podcast for sure is frequently updated. I think it will continue to be a helpful resource for us in this crazy new adventure.

Luna - 7.5 wks

Is it just me or does this have "defiance" written all over it?