Consolidated Lint

Worth 1000 words?

2007-10-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Or maybe it's 2000 words, since here are two pictures.

Oddly, the perfect heel (above) is the first of the two socks, that one done NOT while watching America's Next Top Model:

The second, horrid, mutant heel (but with excellent ventilation) will be sewn up after the fact, not ripped out and re-done as originally thought.

2nd Bumblebee heel proves my undoing

2007-10-03T23:30:00.001-07:00

I am a MO-Ron.

The heel for the first sock is PERFECT - the second one I may actually rip out (had I confidence in my ability to rip back to a safe starting point).

All those wraps and k or p 2 tog - eeesh I'm getting a headache!

Will see if I can't cheat and sew up the HOLES in the heel - if not I guess I'll head to Unwind and throw myself on their mercy!

Pics of the disaster Swiss Cheese Heel tomorrow when I can again face the sock.

Finally cast on the second Bumblebee sock

2007-09-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

No pic, but I finally had vive minutes to myself today to cast on the second Bumblebee sock.

This is the closest I've come to the dreaded One Sock Syndrome - normally I cast on the second sock within hours of finishing the first one, just in case.

More to come, as it develops....

About finishing that first Bumblebee Sock -

2007-09-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

I gave up on the "finish the whole skein" idea when the cuff of this sock hit 8 inches. That's enough already! So then, just when I thought this was going to be easier even than a top-down sock, I just totally screwed the pooch trying to bind off.

Okay I read the instructions on the SEWN BIND OFF but figured I'd just BO in the K1 P1 rib like normal - I think you know how THAT turned out - had to un-bind off - a real thrill with size 3 - and now I'm still stuck trying to figure out the sewn bind-off with some pretty mangled stitches. What, no online video for that???

More About the Twize

2006-05-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

In response to MJ asking how easy/hard this top is to make for someone just branching out into garments -

The pattern is simple!

You need to know how to knit and purl, increase and decrease, and that's it. Plus three-needle bind-off.

The first 6 rows are seed stitch (and on the front the center 8 or 9 depending on the garment size). I used markers on either side of the seed stitch center just to keep myself reminded. There are two waist decreases, then two increases, and that's all until the underarm decreases, which are simple and obvious.

The straps are bound off together with the 3-needle technique and you seam the sides and that's it.

I did revise the pattern to do it in the round (eliminates side seaming) but haven't tried it that way yet.

Also, I don't know about you, but every time I use a pattern I use at least one skein fewer than it calls for. Same with this one. I did the size large in five skeins and this size small in I think three! The pattern calls for six and five. Go figure, but good to know because the bamboo ain't cheap.

Also if you buy the Twize from Unwind they will give you the pattern free with it.

Go get 'em - make this top!

Second Twize Top - perfecto!

2006-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

I started this top in what I thought would be plenty of time for my pal Misty's birthday, but as it turns out, I only just finished it about a week ago. I started it on my one day you have to give them for Jury Duty, but instead of knitting all day I got picked for a case and had to go and listen to the case most of the day (before successfully weaseling out of being on the jury).

No matter, it did get done, and between her crazy schedule and mine, there just has been no time to run it over to her.

Ran over to her house today, made her strip, threw on the top, and here's the result:

Not bad, I'd say, not bad.

This is the purple colorway of the Twize bamboo yarn. I like it better than the wild rice colors, but I get compliments on that one too so who knows.

Wht I'm up to these days

2006-04-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

I stopped into UNWIND to show off my TWIZE top, and saw Karyn's MTA Sweater on display.

It's cute and light and, well, see for yourself.

In just a couple of evenings I'm through three balls of the yarn and have about 9 or 10 inches of the body done. No pics of my work because (I think for the first time) I am actually using the suggested yarn AND following a pattern. My top will look exactly like Karyn's:

So far a fun project, and at three bucks a ball for the yarn how can you lose?

Back in the saddle!

2006-04-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's not that I haven't been knitting (although I did take a couple of weeks off for vacation), I just haven't been writing about it or taking pictures.

Okay, so here's what I finished last night:

It's a pattern from UNWIND and it's called Twize - or the yarn is called that and they suggest you use it for this top. Whichever.

I have to say, for the first time I feel like something I made FITS me - which is no thanks to the good folks at Twize, because they just say "Size S M and L" on the pattern, giving no indication of measurements that fit those classifications.

But crabbing aside, this thing is pretty cool.

The yarn is 100% bamboo - yes I said bamboo - and it feels soft like a combination of cotton and silk. Normally I'm no fan of browns, but this colorway reminds me of wild rice and is visually cool.

It's mostly stockinette with a center column of seed stitch. Bottom is seed stitch too, as are the straps and armholes. Simple!

Detail of the center seed stitch:

I got impatient and 3-needle bound the straps off together probably about an inch early, but I think with wear the straps may have an inch of give in them and I didn't want them to be too long. We'll see.

The pattern calls for a mild waist decrease (2 times) I read the pattern wrong and did it three, which I think had better results. Instead of doing it at row 18 and row 36, I did it at row 1, row 18, and row 36 (and of course did the corresponding three increases).

For now I'm more than satisfied. I'll add some better pictures if I can get Jenny to take some today.

Am I dead?

2006-03-12T22:57:00.000-08:00

Well, not exactly.

But - shockingly - I haven't been doing much knitting lately.

I had a two-week vacation, and although I brought a project, nothing says "blecch" like knitting wool in humid Florida.

So I got nuttin' and I don't care who knows it.

Back at home, I'm still working on the ugliest cardigan in the world. I hate it but I can't stop - I keep thinking it will turn out okay.

But really I think it's shit, and will likely rip out the whole damned thing at some point.

It's a cotton cardigan, made with different colorways of the same yarn. Pics and specs to come, but for now let's say I have a lot done: Bottom up, with all the stitches at once (CO for both fronts and back) so as not to have to count rows and match up the color differences later. I did 15" of that and put the stitches for the two fronts on holders. Now I'm working up the back and have about 3 inches done.

It's a lot to do on something you hate, Hate, HATE.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Like the Universe,

2006-01-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

My knitting is expanding.

I've completed my second moebius scarf and have run into an interesting problem: I counted 99 stitches as I cast on (and counted "one" for each scoop/wrap as instructed in the Cat Bordhi book), and then joined. I knitted the first row, and as expected, 99 stitches later I was at the halfway point. The marker was on the lower needle and 99 stitches later (or so) the marker appeared back at the home position.

I counted as I did the next row and, and noticed that instead of 198 stitches I only had 194 when the marker was again between the needles. So on the third round I did a make one every 50 stitches to compensate and get me back to 198 stitches total.

I was a bit concerned because when I had reached 198 stitches I was only at the "belly button" of the work; the marker was still halfway away from me.

I forged ahead and I'm sure you can guess the results: on the last round I counted 393 stitches!

The scarf is twice as long as I wanted (about 72" so it hangs 36" around my neck), and of course the yarn only lasted half as deep as I'd wanted too. I was hoping to wrap the extra wide scarf twice - once around my neck and once as a hood.

I am okay about ripping out and doing it over, especially since I did the whole thing last night and just did the last two rounds today, but before I do that I need to know - have I done something obvious and wrong? I did knit into the front and back leg of each stitch (as instructed) for the first half, then when the stitches were mounted correctly I only knit each one once for the second half of the first round. And yet....

(I don’t know if I had the same problem with my first scarf because I didn't count the number I cast on for that - just cast on until I could join and started knitting. It too is a lot longer than I'd like.)

Any help from the knitting collective is much appreciated!

All Hopped Up - again

2006-01-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

During the course of my regular knitblog browsing, I came across this entry on
Yarn Harlot - and my life was transformed. Again.

I had to call 6 yarn stores before I could find this book, but it was worth it - Cat Bordhi has come up with something truly amazing.

And easy.

And amazing.

I'm not finished yet, but I really love the idea of making this as a true Mobius, not just a scarf with the ends grafted together.

It requires a superlong circular - 40 - 60 inches - which I had to buy, but other than that you already have everything you need. (Of course you also have to buy the book or a pattern from Cat to get the Mobius Cast On instructions.) I got a 60" Addi Turbo but it's too long so I used the mighty DENISE with a 40" cord.

Not sure if this is peculiar to Denise but I had a problem early on with the needle getting bunched up:

But I emailed Cat - and I have to say I love this aspect of the internet - She Emailed Me Right Back, and told me I needed to un-bunch the needle, which I did. Problem solved:

As you can see, the damned thing starts in the middle and radiates out. I snapped this photo just before finishing the first round of the yellow you can see how this goes.

More pics when it is done. Ya-hooo!

Finito!

2006-01-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

So of course that feather pattern scarf has been done for two days already.

I set it on a towel, stretched it nice and even from side to side, pinned the shit out of it, and misted like crazy with water. Then I left it overnight, and what do you know, the blocking worked great!

No pic today - the camera's upstairs and I'm downstairs - but really it looks just as you would expect.

I'm pleased, and I think maybe a little braver for the experience.

Good thing too, because I just signed up for the Lilly Chin workshop at UNWIND.

Tickle me with a Feather!

2006-01-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

Progress!

This feather pattern is done over a span of 8 rows. The first three sets of 8 rows had at least one mistake, but once I figured the thing out (including that I had one too many stitches in the row for the first two 8's) things started coming together.

It's actually simple and it goes pretty fast - this is just from a little time last night, and it's longer than pictured -

And if you stretch it side to side (I hope the cotton will block well) you can even see the pattern!

The Year I At Least TRY....

2006-01-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

Okay so last year I said I would try to move my knitting to the next level by trying some new stitches.

Well, with few exceptions, that really didn't pan out. I'm a chicken!

So today, January 2nd, I am making my first stab at a feather pattern -

Yeah, it's just the first 8 rows, and I already know I screwed up the end of Row 7, but I'm going to keep going until I get confident.

Does what I have look like the picture? Not to my reasoning, but it's only 8 rows in.

And by the way Yes I Am using craft store Sugar 'n Cream yarn - cheap as all getout but very easy to use for something like this - no fraying, no eyelashes, no nothing - just nice friendly cotton.

Thanks to knitty for the pattern, and to Michael's for the yarn (it's even pink) -

More as this story develops....

The Wrapup!

2005-12-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

Okay so I've been knitting myself crazy over this whole Mya thing, and here is what I have completed for her. Warning - it's a long post!

But first, this picture is of the E-Zim knitted Möbius I whipped up because I got tired of looking at this lone ball of multicolored wool.

Best thing about this project? Since the Möbius strip is a theoretical object, I was able to do the single crochet border on both sides as one continuous line - There Is Only One Edge to this item!

I washed it this morning because last night when I wore it it was a bit scratchy. Seems to have softened.

It's about half as long as E-Zim recommends - she says 60 inches! - but it's perfect for me. Southern Cal gets a bit chilly but really warm clothes are of no use to me.

Back to Mya -

She's due on the scene around January 15th, but as we know it's an imprecise science at best, so anytime after - um - today - she might just show up.

At least she'll have plenty to wear!

Here's a super-soft crazy combo:

And here's that silk sweater and hat combo - note the YO borders!

Cute Pillbox Hat:

And this Frankenstein-Style vest. By the way NEVER EVER knit with this stuff - I nearly killed myself! As it is I made it a vest instead of a sweater because I couldn't stand another moment of it!

Another delightfully soft yarn that's IMPOSSIBLE to work with - except maybe on a scarf:

Two shots of the yellow seed stitch set - I really love the way this came out -

Okay, That's IT!

It's a THREE-fer!

2005-12-17T17:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's been A Long Time since I posted, but I've been busy like everyone else this time of year.

So let's get to it.

I took Ba's shrug to UNWIND for some glamour shots before mailing it off, so here's how it looks. The photos don't show how shiny it is, which is a shame. The stripe worked great, though, and I'm very pleased with it overall.

Next is the red and white number I whipped up using the E-Zim technique for the seamless in the round yoke sweater. It needed a little improv for a kid's size (this is going to a two-year-old tomorrow) but otherwise it worked great and looks super cute.

Knitted in red and white Suss Cotton that I've had in my stash FOREVER - so I get points for using up old yard AND making something nice for Veronika, who so appreciates everything I make for her.

Yay (and Happy Birthday) Veronika!

Note - I have invented what I am calling The Popcorn Neck -

I made the thing twice as high in K1 P1 rib but discovered it was too tight to go over a 19-inch head, so I ripped back about half of the ribbing and threaded the yarn back through the live loops (kind of like you do when you are about to close the top of a hat like a drawstring). Instead of pulling closed, I stretched the neck as wide as it would go, then wove in the very long end a long way down so it won't unravel.

It looks so cute and frilly!

Last on the hit parade is a little pink number I just finished for Mya. I tool some photos this afternoon before I finished it but Blogger only allows upload of so many per post. More when it's blocked and really finished. This one is a kind of salmony pink 100% silk. It was great to work with - it lies so flat! - and is more cottony than silky to the touch.

I'm not so happy with the button holes though (single crochet border puts them kind of deep into the sweater) and may just sew them up!

Oh this time of year!

2005-12-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

Well even in the midst of all this End Of Year stuff I did manage to finish Barbara's shrug, and I'm proud to say it turned out GREAT.

These are just some quick shots. I did the stripe to go around and it worked - lined up perfectly - yay!

I have to say that for all the HELL that was working with Trendsetter Segue, it did come out nice.

I went to UNWIND and took some shots of it on the mannequin but haven't got them out of the camera yet. These are kind of cool because you can see how the thing is done top to bottom, so that the colors match up.

Going on, ongoing....

2005-11-29T15:05:00.000-08:00

I realized it's been a while since I posted anything.

Working on a few things right now - a shrug for Barbara (WHAT a nightmare - NEVER buy Trendsetter Segue unless you can sucker - oh I mean convince someone else to wind it for you), and percoloating one or two more things to pack up and send to Impending Baby Ackenhausen, making her first appearance here:

And no that's not a joke - apparently you can see a lot in an ultrasound - a CREEPY lot!

Stay of Execution

2005-11-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

I've had a call from the Governor - you'd think he'd be otherwise occupied - and have yet to destroy the Yoke Vest.

In fact I had the idea to do a single crochet (my new favorite thing) border on the collar, cleverly closing the "wrong" gap by decreasing, and will put the thing on later today for an evaluation.

I want to show it to knitters and non-knitters and see if it's as bad as I think. I'd hate to rip the thing out - it's very comfy. Overall it's still too tight (but may relax with blocking and wear) and damn it I just don't want to kill it.

I wish I had someone to give it to but it's so riddled with mistakes I wouldn't have the nerve -

Hey Jerk, Here's a crappy present for you ---

Nope, I haven't got the nerve.

... Goeth Before a Fall

2005-11-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

(Part two of a two-part post. Here's Part One.)

So I guess Jesus was a knitter, or at least he knew some.

I realize I should just rip this damned thing out and pretend I never got past the last post on it, but that would be dishonest.

So here's the deal.

I did finally finish my new nemesis, the Loop d Loop Yoke Vest, but it was an utter disaster and will need to be completely abandoned. I'm not doing it again.

I decided to ignore the pattern and do my increases on either side of what I'd marked as the center stitch, which didn't give exactly the same result as was pictured in the book but was fine.

But when it was nearly done and I needed to divide for the neck I was SOOOO careful to follow the directions, but I still managed to screw it up and now - yikes - the neck is off center!

And do you see the lovely row of "decorative" twisted stitches just below the bust? That's from when I ripped it out the first time but put every single stitch on backwards.

Yup, I got a lot to be proud of. I'm a real pro.

I see after the fact that even doubled this Blue Sky Cotton is too soft for this pattern anyway - the book shows the collar standing up but mine just rolls down. Not that I would have hated that look, but I can't deal with it now that it's completely off-center (80s revival or not).

So by the time you see these pictures, this top will be a thing of the past.

I do have to say I like the shaping, and am halfway tempted to just rip out the collar - no, in the name of all that's decent it must be destroyed.

Maybe I will start fresh with a different yarn. Maybe I will just know when to admit defeat instead.

PRIDE

2005-11-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

(the first of a two-part post)

Hoo yeah I am all hopped up on how great I am - why I can knit with the best of them I surely can -

Just marvel at the finished shrug, done the night before we left for Carmel for a weekend of wedding festivities for two dear friends!

But wait - there's more!

Jenny's pal Cynthia is in town, and she shows us how to crochet, so I am now able to put a nice finish on Picovolo:

Snappy, eh? That's two rows of plain old single crochet, but I had been crocheting WAY too loose and Cynthia set me straight. I couldn't be happier with the top now and can't wait to do another.

Impressed?

Well maybe you should reserve judgment until you've read the next post....

Bursting with pride!

2005-11-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

OK, here it is - Peggy's Ballet Top!

Remember this is Peggy's first non-scarf project, and with the exception of one afternoon of help from me she did this All Alone!!!

Here she is, looking GORGEOUS in it (even if she thinks it's too small) -

And from her summary email to me:

What went wrong:

Well, it's too small, even with the increases we engineered. I actually
had to knit 60 rows total to get 14" under the arms.

I screwed up the ssk decreases and consequently, the next set of
increases, which were to originate center front and center back, were
moved to one side.

There are some weird little "holes" -- might have been tension, might
have been me dropping something.

What went right:

I learned to increase, decrease, knit in the round, and use two strands!
And follow a pattern, duh.

I think I did a good job binding off and finishing. I felt like there
should have been one more stitch to bind off -- it looked a little weird
-- I did my best to bring the last round together with the finishing
threads.

And the Blue Sky cotton was so soft and easy to work with, as were the
Denise needles.

I have some lovely Bingo yarn for my next project, which will be a beret.

The videos at KnittingHelp.com are fantastic.

PEGGY WE SALUTE YOU!

Only a matter of time

2005-10-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

... before I would join the throng of those who knit the Sherry's Easy Shrug from UNWIND.

This pattern is hardly even a pattern - if you can do a K2 P2 rib you are already done. It's all done in one piece and then seamed together. Right now I've cast on the extra stitches at either end and am doing the part that contains the sleeves (why it's wider now).

Clever!

I'm finding that the rib is slowing me down, but still after just two nights this is what I have:

I'm using a lovely almost nubby gray ROYAL TWEED and am into my third 50g ball of it now. I hope to finish this shrug for our weekend away in Carmel, where it's chilly.

More to come, as usual.

For now here's what the cats think of it -

Peggy Rules - AGAIN

2005-10-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

(this post too lazy to include handy links to the subject matter. Feel free to scroll as needed.)

Yes I am still gloating over the successful completion of the Picovolo.

I am completely satisfied with it and in fact I wore it to a lovely birthday brunch today, hosted by Jenny, and Jeanette actually said she thought the top was Store Bought -- What higher compliment?

But I digress.

This post is about QUEEN PEGGY, masterful brave Super Knitter!

After visiting here not long ago and learning to knit at the feet of the master (Jenny), Peggy took to it like a pro and immediately went home and started making all kinds of super-sassy scarves, teaching herself the stiches with only a copy of Debbie Bliss's HOW TO KNIT.

Many delightful scarves later, she of course arrived at the age-old Question: How many scarves can a person make?

Okay, what then to move on to that's not too scary but that's more gratifying than a scarf?

After having such success with the Ballet Top (Loop d Loop), I knew Peggy could make one too. She was a bit intimidated about knitting in the round AND knitting with two strands because she'd never done either, but we went to UNWIND, got some yarn, and she was off and running in moments.

Double stranded? No Problem.

Joining and knitting in the round to make stockinette? Ditto.

Knit into the front and back to increase at the markers? Child's play for Super Peggy!

We started the Ballet Top when she was here, and look how far she is now:

I am bursting with pride!

More pics as she sends them to me - but let's all give Peggy a big hand for getting this far!

And Finally -

2005-10-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Satisfaction!

I did have to add a few stitches at intervals all the way around in order to get it to be the right size, and altough I know no one else will see, I do notice the increases. I also added a few rows in the boobs before starting the decreases and that worked well. It put my just into a 5th skein, though, which probably could be avoided next time.

I’m hoping blocking will make the added stitches a bit less noticeable, but even if it doesn’t I’m still very happy with the way this top turned out.

The tailoring at the sides looks pretty good – different from the tops that have increases and decreases on either side of the center stitch. I especially like the darts under the bust. It fits really well!

If I could pay attention and count I’m sure this would have come out perfect, but this is close enough for me. I’ll definitely try again with the same kind of yarn and the same needles.

Oh and note the YO, K 2 tog border at the bottom – Cute!

Oh, Picovolo....

2005-10-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

This is Picovolo at the point where I was going to rip it out:

Maybe I don't suck?

2005-10-13T09:35:00.001-07:00

You will laugh but I am making the second stab at the
Magknits Picolvolo Top, and I think it's going well in spite of my - um - talents. The pattern calls for 5.5 sts/in which is just too fine and blindness-causing for me, so I'm doing it at 4.5 per inch and following the pattern as if I were making the smaller size.

I was just about to rip out the whole thing - again - when I discovered I had nowhere near the number of stitches the pattern said (although I did all the increases right) but thought I'd try it on and see how bad it was before unraveling it. I threaded it all onto my favorite "scrap yarn" -- Dental Floss - and tried it on.

I was at the point where it just about covered my boobs, and what do you know, it pretty much fits! So no unraveling, and now I'm just at the end of all the waist decreases, which are a lot of work but do look nice. I'm out of yarn, though, because the yarn I'm using (a lovely mid-to-light pink mercerized cotton) was purchased for a different project and I only got three skeins. I figure I will need two more to finish - but that's a good lesson for me too because I never know how much yarn I will need for a project and end up with way too much if I follow what the patterns say.

Humbling

2005-10-09T15:38:00.001-07:00

Well things were going along fine and dandy with that yoke vest, and I think you know what happened: I got cocky.

I got to the point where I started the bust increases and my brain fell out - I read the pattern several times, and even brought the thing to UNWIND for hand-holding, and yet I still managed to get the increases to veer off to the right instead of stay smack in the center of the vest.

CRAP!

Here's a picture of just how far I got - did the sleeves and everything. Cord binding around the middle is how far I determined I would need to rip out (grrrrrrrrr).

You can sort of see here that I've lost control of the center stitch, and the thing just runs off to the right:

The good news, if you can call it that, is that I panicked and sent email to the Loop-d-Loop site, and first thing in the morning I had a response email from Teva! Email was great and really wanted to help me solve this, but Teva stuck to the pattern (I was insisting that you need to do an increase on either side of the center stitch (a K1) and the book says no). We exchanged a couple of emails and then I think Teva gave up on me.

Where I'm at now? I decided to try it my way - add a K1 at the center stitch and do my increases on either side of it. But now I've started another project and am pretty deep into it.

But that's another post -

So for right now this vest is stalled.

This is the first time I've ever worked on more than one thing at once. Not sure I like it....

Moving Right Along

2005-09-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

I told you I was already into the Yoke Vest, so here's a little more than a night's work on it:

and in case you were wondering who really does all this knitting, it's Nathan Jr:

He's an especially big help with blocking.

As promised -

2005-09-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Here's the photo of the finished Pink Fuzzy Sweater. It's cute but it's not going to win any awards.

Blocking does seem to have made the whole shoulder seam issue go away, for which I am grateful.

I've moved on to a new project - the vest thing from that Loop d Loop book. Another one on size 13s, so it should be done in a couple of days.

Pics and such as they are made possible.

Now Getting It Ready....

2005-09-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

I finally finished what I mistakenly thought would be a quick and dirty fuzzy pink sweater for - are you ready? - Baby Maya Ackenhausen (due in January 2006).

Turns out the fuzzy yarn is hard for me to work with because I can't see the damned stitches to sew seams and such. I thought I would get around this by doing the back and fronts as one piece (cast on the stitches for the back and both fronts, then work even until you reach the arm separations).

This worked great and I was cool with the 3-needle shoulder bind-off. Unfortunately, that left me in a quandary: If I wanted to pick up the stitches for the sleeves, I would have to knit them in the round.

"Wait," you say - "don't you prefer working in the round?" Why yes I do, now that you mention it. What kills it for me on this sweater is that the sleeve is so small I would have to use the dreaded Double Pointed Needles, which can bite me.

OK then, separate sleeves, fitted in. Done it several times - no biggie.

So I did it and when it came time to fit the second one in the damned fuzzy thing is so impossible to tell this from that that I ended up doing it so that no matter how you turn the sweater, one sleeve is inside out and the other is right side out!

Now at this point any dedicated, SERIOUS knitter would grit some teeth, rip out one of the seams, and re-do it correctly. Not me! This stuff is Awful, and I just want to be done with this thing.

Besides, it's for 0-3 months - she'll wear it once and grow out of it. And I bet you any amount of money she will have No Idea about the sleeve situation.

Pics to come - it's blocking right now (in hopes that will at least help hide said sleeve situation).

Pooch is Screwed

2005-09-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

Okay I couldn't resist taking a picture or two of my grand folly.

How badly did I screw the pooch on this one? You be the judge.

I SWEAR I counted correctly when placing the markers, but since I have the correct number of total stitches I can only conclude that I was high on the crack when I placed those markers. How else would I get this kind of horrible mess?

Let's remind ourselves that this would have been I think the fifth garment to employ this technology, and that all the others came out perfectly fine.

LSD in the water supply? Or me just not know how to count?

But look at the lovely raglan increases - and get a good look, because it's all getting ripped out tonight.

Don't get cocky -

2005-09-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Riding high on the giddy success of not one but TWO Ballet Tops, I had been toying with the idea of doubling the Loop d Loop pattern (and halving the gauge) when MJ turned me on to a link to essentially the same top but in a finer gauge. It's the Magknits Picovoli Top.

Hooray, right?

I did a gauge swatch with a #7 needle and got the correct 5.5 stitches to the inch (using this super-fine Suss cotton I got on sale for TWO BUCKS for 256 yards) and considered myself ready to make what promised to be a lovely fine-gauge top.

I've done two of the Ballet Tops and two no-pattern top-down raglans, so I was feeling pretty confident (looking back I'd have to say cocky).

Well, I've totally screwed up on this simple top-down raglan - I have to rip the whole thing out, which is a first for me. I have NEVER ripped anything all the way out.

I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong - I cast on the right number of stitches, placed the markers in the right spots (or did I?), increased properly - but after 9 increase rounds my stitch count is right but the distribution of stitches between the markers is WAY off.

Gleeps. No photo - you couldn't tell anyway at this point.

Crap!

Seedling Sweater Complete

2005-09-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

All right I finally got off my ass and picked up the stitches to do the backbreaking Three Whole Rows for the collar on this sweater, and now it's done. I think I will block, but here's the photo now:

I totally pussed out on making the buttonholes - not that I don't know how to make them (because I do) - but just because I didn't feel like it. These buttons are small and can be jammed through the sweater any old where, and besides, this sweater is for 3-6 months. Do you really think anyone is going to bother with buttons on a baby that small? I didn't think so either.

This sweater was from the MINNIES book, and I have to say the pattern was good. When it said "Pick up 50 stitches for the collar" there really were only 50 stitches there, and the same thing happened with the sleeves. All in all a very simple project - took about 4 days of casual front-of-the-tv knitting. After all those "wing it" sweaters with no pattern it's been kind of fun to follow one.

The only bad thing I can say about this project is that it's boring (to make and to look at) if you use all one color yarn. At very least I would recommend a variegated yarn that will bring out the seed stitch but also create a more visually interesting garment. This one is a little dull.

Now all I have to do is figure if I should bring it as a gift to our dentist (baby girl born first week of August) or save it for Nameless Baby Ackenhausen (not showing up until January).

I'm so impatient - I gave the Creamsicle sweater away last night - I have no self control!

No Lost Causes!

2005-09-03T14:27:00.000-07:00

I saved my top by crocheting an open lacy deal (my lame-ass concoction of half double and double crochet) with the nubby yarn across the top bound-off seam, decreasing like crazy at either end. I found that worked a little TOO well, making the thing REALLY pull in from side to side, so now that's the back.

For the front I picked up all the bound-off stitches and knit (no crochet) using the nubby yarn. First I did a row of the pattern stitch - K1, wrap to the end, then the next row K1, drop wrapped stitch. Then I did one row of plain all-knit, then I started the K1, YO, K2tog deal to make the open lacy stitch. I decreased at either end a few times but not so much as with the crochet side. When I'd done about 2 or 3 inches I bound off and sewed the lace into the straps (instead of picking up strap stitches like I did with the crochet side), and voila!

I will have to get someone else to take pictures of it so you can see the back, but I have already worn it two times. It's very see-through so I wear a nude colored bra with it. Really you think you're seeing a lot more than you're really seeing though.

Oh What Now....

2005-09-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Okay so what am I up to now?

Still waiting to hear the gender of Baby Ackenhausen - yes, that's right, ACKENHAUSEN - so I'm kind of putting off the knitting onslaught until we know.

Gender dictates so much more than just what colors to use; the whole design is up for grabs.

In the meantime I've whipped up this seed stitch cardigan from the MINNIES book. Don't tell Lisa but I got this yarn for a buck a skein at Yarnapalooza (aka Firberfest) and it's working out great.

All seed stitch, all one color - pretty boring, but I think it should be cute anyway.

Here it is blocked.

I've completed one whole sleeve too but didn't take a photo yet.

I can't stop myself!

2005-08-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm really losing it now.

After finishing that CUTE Loop-d-Loop Ballet T-Shirt in just Two Days I just had to do another one!

I was at The Knit Cafe showing off the green one and before I knew it I had purchased four skeins of DELICIOUS Manos del Uruguay cotton yarn to make another one!

The green one is a bit tight, so I got daring and this orange one has 4 more stitches in it. I cast on 2 more than the pattern calls for at each underarm, then made the necessary changes to the number of stitches before and after the increases and decreases. No biggie and it worked great.

Here's a shot of the whole thing:

Unfortunately, I found an interesting comment about this yarn - that it stretches a lot! - AFTER I finished the top. No matter, it's so soft I just want to SLEEP in it!

My last embellishment was the one All Purl row three rows from the bottom, followed by three knit rows and a knit bind-off. This makes a nice "double hem" kind of thing because otherwise I don't have to tell you about stockinette rolling.

Here are two shots of the bottom edge:

Also, today I joined my first webring! I can't figure out how to get the correct image for the link, but it's up there anyway!

Zip, Zip, It is DONE!

2005-08-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is awesome - last Friday I got a copy of the new Loop-d-Loop book at Knit Cafe. They are having a trunk show - almost all the projects featured in the book are there in the Knit Cafe for us to look at in person.

What a cool thing that is! It makes SUCH a difference to be able to see the actual article in person.

Needless to say I bought the book.

At home I checked my (ahem) yarn stash and found a 170yd skein of Suss Cotton in a lovely lime green. I'd used the better part of another skein of this to make the Frankenstein Sweater and had maybe half a skein of the lime left, plus I had two balls of a cool variegated lime-ish yarn of about the same worsted weight, so these are what I used for this project.

It's solid lime until I ran out, and after that it's lime plus the variegated (this is worked two-stranded). I think it came out GREAT and can't wait to wear it in to show Mary Heather.

This is the Ballet T-Shirt and it's supposed to be cropped, but I went an additional 5 rows in just the variegated to get a bit of length because there's a good amount of me to cover with the shirt.

This is a DREAM PROJECT -

The directions are super-clear and utterly straightforward, and the thing knits up in two days! You courld reasonably knit this while on a long plane ride, plus it's all done in the round so there's no seams! Finally, since it's a top-down deal you can even put the thing on yarn and try it on if you feel like it.

Ya-hoo!

This is my first post using Blogger's Add Photo button - so bear with me -

Okay here are the pics:

Knitblog is ONE!

2005-08-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, today marks one year since I started Consolidated Lint.

I have another post to make today - I fixed the SuperGiant top - but in case I can't get to it today I for sure wanted to wish my blog a very happy first birthday.

In the meantime, thanks to Jenny I now have a proper LINKS section. Wheeeee!

Soooooo.....

I still haven't decided what to do with the bamboo, but I will warn you that it's a bit pricey and the skeins are a bit short*. And maybe it's just me but winding it with the swift and ball winder nearly made me insane - the stuff is finer than it seems I guess, and the winder really wanted to make a mess of it. (No, I've never had trouble with winding before.)

*This post is officially amended - Mary Heather tells me I was reading the band wrong! It's not the number of yards; it's the number of yards PER OUNCE, then a handwritten number for how many ounces. Duh. Time to refigure....

You're knitting with WHAT now?

2005-08-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's BAMBOO!

Yep, for real. And no picture can convey how super-soft and fancy this stuff is. It's got a silky shine to it but it's not silk - very cool.

Now I have to figure out what to make with it.

Here's my swatch - it's a little more than 5 stitches to the inch on a size 6 needle in stockinette, but as you can see it's much different with other stitches.

Stockinette looks fine, seed stitch is lost, and ribbing is also okay, but K2 P2 is better looking than K1 P1.

Notice my lovely KNIT CAST ON - it makes the cutest squiggles at the bottom edge!

All right, all right

2005-08-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

Okay so here's the photos

Realizing what a tease that last post was, I screwed up the courage to snap some pics of this thing on me. Just don't laugh too hard looking at them.

You can see the neat yarn and the fancy stitch - and also the horrible horrible fit. The shot of the back doesn't show how low it really hangs - in fact it comes almost to my waist when I'm just standing up (not contorting with a camera).

Interestingly, I like that bare back thing, just not for me.

So all right, Knit Community - can it be salvaged? Since it's two yarns together I REALLY don't want to have to rip the whole thing out....

Crappity Crap

2005-08-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Boy nothing like a resounding failure to bring you down from a nice knitting high.

Last week I got these two awesome yarns at UNWIND and figured I would whip out a nice and easy tank top with them and be wearing the thing within a week. The yarn was pretty expensive but hey I'm no novice, right? This project should be a done deal.

Like a good girl, I dutifully did a gauge swatch, and determined my gauge was about 4.5 - 4.75 stitches per inch on Size 6 needles. That's about average for what I've been doing lately, so I just did some quick math and cast on for the bottom circumference.

Well you know how once you're into something it just doesn't look right? Since the yarn is shiny ribbon I decided to do a snappy stitch instead of just stockinette (although that was what I swatched in). About 4 inches up from the bottom I changed to two rows stockinette, then one row knit, YO, knit, YO for the whole row. The next row of course was knit, drop the extra, knit, drop the extra.

Do I have to spell out what ended up happening? Even with some pretty major decreasing at the waist this thing is MONSTROUSLY BIG. So big I'm ashamed to take a picture of it on.

Instead of being a tank top, when I put it on it's more of a very low cut minidress - for a woman twice as big around as me! If I get the nerve I will post pictures, but right now it's just too humiliating.

I am of course open to all suggestions on how to salvage this garment. I wouldn't mind if it were a dress really - but I have to do something to fill in the upper front and back - right now the back is a very saucy dip to well below my bra line and the front is four inches too low too.

Aaargh!

Oops -

2005-07-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

Got a message from Stephanie at UNWIND - it's KARYN, not Carol like I said. I came close but didn't quite get her name right, but I should have, since she did me a great favor and wound the two difficult skeins I bought.

Sorry Karyn!

UNWIND....

2005-07-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

So I guess today was a case of Life Imitates Art (or what passes for art) because today I stepped into my television.

What the hell am I talking about?

Why SIX FEET UNDER of course, and today I sort of stepped into it --- by entering UNWIND, the knitting store where Ruth Fisher has been hanging out this season.

So far they haven't had much of an increase in business due to the show, but that can pretty much be attributed to the fact that only one shot shows the name of the store (as Ruth is leaving), and unless you are INSANE you just watch the show, you don't write things down and Google them later.

Of course I am insane, so immediately after the show I Googled it, and discovered that the store is in Burbank (a.k.a. WHERE IT'S AT), and driving there today took a mere 10 minutes!

The store is big, nicely laid out, and well stocked both with interesting yarns and good books. Stephanie and Carol (and how I hope I got the names right) were supernice, and the whole experience is topped off with free, meterless street parking.

Oh and I almost forgot: They have a Frequent Flier program - they punch your card for every I think $10 you buy, and when the card is full you get $30 credit!

I am utterly thrilled to add UNWIND to my list of yarneries!

CRAP!

2005-07-24T14:49:00.001-07:00

I guess there's a bit more finesse to this Top-Down business than I originally thought.

For this project I thought I got smart and went and bought a t-shirt for size 6-12 months to use as a template for this sweater. I got the neck right, but the every row increase made the sleeve openings huge and the body WAY too wide - my template shirt was 13 inches wide, and my sweater came out 17 inches wide!

Okay, here it is finished:

And here's a cool shot of the stripes lining up when it's folded - something I didn't plan to be exact but turned out that way!

It looks adorable, IT ONLY TOOK THREE DAYS TO MAKE, but before we get all crazy patting ourselves on the back here, let's look at some problems:

First, this sweater is way too wide. I have to try it on a child before condemning it totally, but it's not how I wanted it and I'm afraid to try a controlled shrink because it's already almost too short in comparison with its length.

Next, with the sweater body being so wide I damn near ran out of yarn. I used two full skeins of Suss Cotton (4oz/170 yards each). I didn't want to add a third color because I wanted to keep the orange and cream thing going.

Here's a shot of the finished body but sleeves not started - pictured with all the yarn I have left to do both sleeves. Not so yummy.

I decreased the sleeves severely - one stitch before and after the center marker (using 16" circular #7 needle) five times, then did one or two rows straight and then the K1 P1 ribbing to end the sleeve. Luckily, short sleeves look cute - I am redeemed!

Not that you'll notice but the sleeve on the right has a neater decrease and the sleeve on the left has one or two fewer ribbing rows - I absolutely ran out of the orange right at the last bind-off stitch. I had barely enough to weave the end in!

About the underarms:

This increase method leaves a lot cleaner underarm situation than the YO, but there's still a hole where the sleeves meet. Ironically, my mistake proved the best solution -

When I was moving the live sleeve stitches from the scrap yarn to the circular needle, I managed something I've never done before - I forgot a stitch (left it on the yarn). When I pulled the yarn free, that lone stitch became the Dreaded Dropped Stitch.

It took me three or four rows of sleeve to notice, and by the time I did it had run down about four rows. Yow!

Okay, I couldn't rip the sleeve out and I didn't know how to pick up the stitch, but I got out my crochet hook and swore I'd figure it out. Not long after, I did figure it out, and picked up the missed stitches. This brought me to the joining point, where there were three more very loose stitches.

Why not pretend they're part of this run?

That's exactly what I did, created a sort of extra row (that totally looks like it belongs there) and now the whole underarm is woven seamlessly!

If you were going to try this I would say to INTENTIONALLY and SECURELY put what would be the first stitch of the sleeve onto the holder and wait until the sleeve is completely done to do this trick.

Whew.

I'm at it again!

2005-07-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

After what I will call success (hey why not?) on my first Top-Down Raglan, I decided to see how it would look if I did the KNIT INTO FRONT AND BACK increase instead of the YARN OVER increase.

With lots of babies on the way or already crawling around, I thought I would try a small one, both because I like making kids' clothes and because I figured it would go fast.

Of course, not to be forgotten is the fact that with their smaller yarn requirements, kid clothes are perfect for using up the extra yarn you have from any projects where you over-estimated your needs.

This cute sweater top (all I have so far but it's only been a couple of days) is using some of the extra yarn I have (almost a full skein of each color) from the Suss Cotton Fair Isle.

The colors are like a Creamsicle - delicious for either gender!

I'm using a size 7 needle and the gauge is I think 4.5 sts/in.

I have to say much as I thought the YO increase was cool, this way looks a lot neater. Also, I paid very close attention on this one and ended up with the correct number of stitches between the markers - yay!

I should have enough orange to finish it in orange but may do another cream stripe combo in there just to be sure.

Here's the first night's worth - note the nice tidy increase!

And here's what I have now:

At this point you can see the sleeves are on thread - I will be joining the body now and working my way to the bottom from here.

FINISHED!

2005-07-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

Oh I'm so happy!

My first Top-Down Raglan is done!

In retrospect I likely should have used cheaper yarn on my first one, what with the figuring tension and measurements and such. No matter, this thing looks so CUTE!

I should have decreased the sleeves - they're bordering on baggy but so short that no one will notice. I may resort to the E-Zim trick of weaving elastic into the ribbing if this bugs me when I wear it.

All told I guess it took what, a week? I started it last Tuesday night and finished it the following Wednesday night. Not bad. I think I could have shaved a day off that if I didn't have to EARN A LIVING...

One thing though - whatever is the deal with the increase stitches not meeting up where they meet at the underarm?

I just kind of winged it to get them together but I don’t' know why my stitches surrounding the Yarn Over increases are SO LOOSE right here, making this area very messy. Plus the single row between the Yarn Overs "miss" each other at the joining point - not exactly ideal.

I guess this is because on the circular needle the rows don't exactly meet up - ?

Anyway here's the fixed one

And here it is with one done, one to go.

This was hardly difficult to fix - but I am wondering if there wasn't something I did wrong here; something that I can correct on the next one.

Happy to hear all comments!

Knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit...

2005-07-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

... and then knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit,

and knit some more.

Hoo GAH, working on the solid pink for the body is getting BORING.

I don't want to introduce any new colors, and I have no ideas on whether to try a new stitch or something.

I've got another three inches or so done from yesterday's picture, so I'm not even to the middle yet. I'm a little skittish about stitches but I have done cable before and know all the basic stitches.

Any suggestions???

And today....

2005-07-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

And today....

At this rate it should be done in another couple of days. I think I'm going to keep the sleeves barely longer than they are and finish them with the same K1 P1 rib as is on the collar. Same will go for the bottom.

Making progress!

2005-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's where I'm at today on this sweater - Last night I got to the point where the sleeves meet under the arm and so I moved all the sleeve stitches to the string holders and joined the body on the large circular needle.

I thought I was going to have to do some serious decreasing on the body (according to my gauge of 4.5/in this thing is I think 40" around) but when I put it on it seems pretty good.

For those of you keeping track (and I wish I were one of them) this is about the end of the multicolored yarn. I can maybe get one more round out of this skein, and after that it's the solid pink of the collar and stripe all the rest of the way.

I HATE taking it off the needles, but I guess it's good practice.

Okay, here are some action shots of me in the mirror:

(If you turn the camera around and sight in the mirror you don't get pictures of yourself holding a camera!)

Also, this sweater won't even need the underarm grafting - I think once the body is done I just finish the sleeves and call it a day.

So far I'm thinking of keeping the sleeves very short. That way I can wear it without getting too hot.

MJ you're my hero!

About "top dollar"

2005-07-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah, as I work on this thing I think maybe I should have done my first one with yarn that doesn't cost almost 40 bucks a skein - but what the hell, I might as well go for it.

Also if I don't do a long sleeve that will take one fewer. I think I did the body of the E-Zim one in two skeins, and a little under one skein each for the sleeves.

Ugh - getting the stupid thing back on the needles after the try-on was awful!

Look out world, here comes the Top Down Raglan!

2005-07-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, a new project!

Following my triumphant finish to the Fair Isle sweater, I promptly fell ill to some really gnarly seasonal allergies - and am just now back to knitting.

Guided by the kind and gentle hand of MJ (Top Down Raglan Sensei) I have left the comfort of the seamless bottom-up EZ sweater, and entered the world of the Top Down Raglan.

I'm again using the Twisted Sister wool/silk (like for the dark purple sweater from months ago), but this time in light colors - a pink and a variegated pink/purple/blue/gray.

I started it on Tuesday night and here's what I have so far:

One look and I don't have to tell you I totally screwed the pooch on the YO, Slip Marker, K1, YO deal, especially at the first increase row - any knitter will look at it and be horrified. The rest of the world, however, will have no clue and I'm not starting again.

The next one will be perfect. That's enough.

So far this has been interesting, and I like the lack of measuring. I tried it on and already I really like this sweater. I'm going to make very short sleeves, though, so it won't be too hot to wear.

I will say one thing I did NOT enjoy was threading half of it onto the black thread so I could try it on - what a pain in the ass that is. And I expect the same thrill when I slip everything back onto the needles. I'm guessing I need another 10 rows or so, at which point I guess I will do this dumb thread thing again.

More as it develops - I have No Idea how anyone could put a color pattern into one of these top parts - I had a hard enough time just changing colors! I HATE the yarn over!!! And boy would it ever screw up the math in even the most basic of Fair Isle patterns....

DUDE!

2005-05-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Check out the Fair Isle -

Inside Out!

Fair Isle is DONE!

2005-05-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

All right it does need to be blocked still, and I liked that so I will do it again, but I couldn't resist these photos.

This is made with Suss Cotton on Size 7 needles, worked entirely in the round and with no seams (just like the purple one below). Fair Isle-ing takes longer than regular knitting (even though it is just as easy) so this took me two or possibly three weeks to make - I'm not too sure.

After visiting Jenny at Knit Café and finding out about her carpal tunnel CAUSED by knitting, I kind of slowed down, so I probably could have had this done two or three days ago. No matter - I gots me no deadlines.

A word about the patterning -

With a couple of exceptions, I made up these patterns as I went along, or drew them out on graph paper. Elizabeth Zimmerman (henceforth E-Zim) said that just about anything would look good on the yoke and she wasn't kidding.

In fact the black and white bits (the pattern below the green neck ribbing) I drew the pattern and then read my paper wrong - and it STILL came out cool.

So let 'er rip on these patterns - EVERYTHING looks like you meant it that way.

Okay here are the pics!

First one is while I'm doing the yoke:

This is it laid flat:

This is detail of the neck:

And these two are of me wearing it!

It was a pleasure to make, but I think the next thing really will have to be a Top-Down Raglan. I need to conquer my fear, and am SO inspired by the photo on MJ's blog that I MUST do one.

And duh, I never thought about doing a Short Sleeve - but it is cute, Cute, CUTE!

So chuck your trepidations and join me in/on the Fair Isle!

Blocking!

2005-05-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

Okay so I now admit that I have never once actually fully BLOCKED a piece of knitting. So shoot me.

After consulting the Oracle (a.k.a. Jenny at Knit Café) I was sufficiently bolstered with courage, and I did it.

Filled the sink with cold water and some baby shampoo, then stuck the sweater in. SOOOOO hard to resist splooshing it around, but I reeeeally didn't want the thing to felt (it's wool and silk) so I managed to keep a hold of myself.

Rinsed three times, then GENTLY rolled it in a towel and brought it downstairs to dry on the pinball machine - in a room where I could close a door to keep cats out.

Go ahead, scroll down and look at the first pictures of this same sweater -

You can see how much flatter this makes the sweater - kind of the difference between a teenage girl's loopy sloopy handwriting and an architect's no-nonsense unified printing.

Here's two shots:

Unfortunately, this process left me with sleeves that are now a bit too long - any hints on how to "unstretch?" I was as careful as possible NOT to pull them out, but they're about an inch or two longer now....

Oh and here's how you do your own patterns for Fair Isle - using knitters' graph paper, just figure some patterns and count how many stitches you need per complete pattern. Most of mine use 4.

Then all you have to do is be sure the total number of stitches on whatever piece you are working is evenly divisible by that number.

More on the fairness of Fair Isle

2005-05-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

You have no idea how EASY this is - really, you always just have two colors and a SUPER simple pattern. No twisting, no nothing. Very little counting even!

Just don't have more than 5 stitches per color. And only two colors per row.

If you change colors VERTICALLY it looks like you have all these colors going at once, but the truth is HORIZONTALLY it's just two colors per row. Yeah, you can get all elaborate and have a pattern that's 12 rows high and 12 rows across, but really that's not necessary.

You should at least try with the simplest three-row pattern:

Row 1
All Contrast Color (all black)

Row 2
Every other stitch a different color (black, white, black, white)

Row 3
All Contrast Color (all black)

I always keep the dark color on the left (or "down") and the light color on the right (or "up"), and at first I even said in my head, "green up, orange down," over and over like a mental patient, so I didn’t twist them. Elizabeth wants you to do it one color in each hand but I don't like that and prefer my way.

All of the patterns in my current sweater are based on repeated groups of four stitches, so make sure your total stitches is divisible. That one I just gave only needs to be divisible by two.

Try it!!!

Sneak A Peek -

2005-05-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

Okay so here's what I have been up to since Saturday.

After the wildly successful completion and enjoyable wear (Sorry, Misty) of the purple sweater with the mild Fair Isle technique, I decided to go crazy and do one full-on.

Yes, it's FIVE colors, all going at once, knitted in the round with the intent of steeking it and making it a cardigan once it's done.

These are all color variants of one yarn: Suss Cotton. When I first started to knit I bought WAY too much of this stuff and it's just been sitting here. So I decided I'd get it all into play and out of the way.

This is the same Elizabeth Zimmerman-style seamless sweater as the purple one. She recommends wool but I much prefer cotton. This is 4 stitches to the inch.

I had SOOOO wanted to try the Top-Down Seamless Raglan (yay, MJ!) but the truth is I chickened out. Instead we have this Fair Isle Madness, which is coming out great.

The one thing you really should know about this technique is that it uses twice as much yarn as just knitting, so if you're trying to clear out your yarn bins (as I was) this technique is either more than ideal or a slippery slope to disaster.

What the hell do I mean by that?

Well I had a full 4-oz (180-yd) skein of the green, orange, white and pink, plus maybe a third of a skein of the black. That would be WAY enough to make a whole long sleeved sweater had I STRIPED the thing. The way it's going now (I'm just at 14'' high - the point of the armhole - and stopping body work to make sleeves) I HAVE TO GO BACK TO SUSS FOR MORE YARN!

I have enough to finish the sweater as a sleeveless shell, but if I want to have sleeves (eew, a sleeveless cardigan is - what - a VEST?) I need more yarn.

Normally I can get one whole sleeve per skein, but remember this takes TWICE that - so today I found myself back at Suss buying Four More Skeins (one each color) and am still keeping my fingers crossed.

So much for a project that HELPS me by depleting my yarn stash and requiring no cash outlay....

My Sloppy Swatching

2005-04-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here's my Sloppy But Generally Reliable swatch technique.

Really it's no big deal. I don't go whole hog but sometimes I get surprised on fit. The truth is it's REALLY important, especially for us who just kind of wing our projects without much in the way of patterns.

Here's what I do:

Figure what needle you will want and cast on about 10 stitches. Knit all rows back and forth for at least 10 rows (this will be fast) and see if you like the way it's coming out. If you plan to do your thing in other than garter stitch, do that stitch after two rows all knit and take a look.

If you like the size and look of the stitches, great. If not, go to a bigger or smaller needle. No need to start a new swatch by the way. When you get the stitches looking the way you like them, rip out this swatch.

With the needles you like, cast on 16 stitches, or whatever you will need to yield a swatch between 3 and 4 inches wide.

Knit two full rows in garter stitch, then knit the first and last two stitches of all rows and do your chosen stitch between.

Do enough so you feel like you would get a good measure - probably about 3 to 4 inches high - then garter stitch last two rows and bind off LOOSELY, leaving a big loop where your last stitch was. DON'T break your yarn.

Measure the stitch pattern against your KNIT CHECK. Count the stitches in two inches and divide by two. Do this with the KNIT CHECK positioned at various points in the swatch to be sure you're getting an accurate reading.

When satisfied, rip out the swatch and use the yarn for your project.

Cutting it, washing it, all that is just a waste to me. Like I said, doing it by the book yields 100% reliable results, but knitted garments are springy and will hide a multitude of sins, not the least of which is sloppy swatching.

My First Seamless Sweater!!!

2005-03-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

This sweater is out of the best knitting book around - KNITTING WITHOUT TEARS by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It's done with Twisted Sister's 50% wool/50% silk yarn and used 4 120-yd skeins of purple, one skein of black, plus a little of the pink and a little more of the purple. I actually went into a 5th skein but used so little of it that I should have found something else to do the neck in and save myself the $40 for the last skein.

Yup, that Twisted Sister stuff ain't cheap. But it's SOOOOO soft and yummy that I don't care.

Okay I finished it - it was about a week and a half of work, with a trip to Florida in between.

Since this was kind of a practice sweater I did it exactly as was in her book, following her instructions to make a 40" sweater. A little bigger than I'd want for me but I didn't want to have to mess with the math while learning her technique.

As it turns out, the sweater is roomy and comfy and I really like it too big.

Without copying from the book, you do this whole sweater in the round. The sleeves are done on a 16" circular and the body on probably a 24" one. I used Denise (naturally) so when I was done with the body (reached the underarm at 14") I just took off the needle ends and applied the stopper ends. There the body sat, waiting for me to finish the sleeves. Denise doesn't have short enough needle bits so I actually bought a 16" #7 Addi Turbo to do the sleeves.

Here's the second row of the yoke - I did the first row in the purple because I was going to do the underarm seam in it and didn't want the black right on it.

The bits of green yarn are the center stitches for both the sleeve and the body - these get the Kitchener Stitch once the rest of the sweater is done, so you get a completely seamless garment.

Getting all the stitches onto the one long needle is a little daunting, but very easy: Once the center stitches are on the scrap yarn (I used a yarn needle and tied the green into a square not), you put the needle ends back onto the body needle and just slip all the sleeve stitches onto the needle so that you are ready to keep knitting in the round, only now you're making the yoke of the sweater.

I did the sleeves last so that the working yarn started at an underarm so the patterns would start and end at that point.

It was a little strange carrying the whole sweater under the knitting but the yoke went fast and it was done pretty quick.

I have to confess I was a bit confused by Zimmerman's neck instructions, so I just ignored them and did the proper decreases, then did a couple of inches of K1 P1 rib and bound off. I don't like that high neck anyway so this came out perfect.

Fair Aisle?

2005-02-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

In response to MJ's question, I think the patterning in this purple sweater does count as Fair Aisle, but since I only did it with one color (black) against the main color, I didn't think that counted.

Not only that, but for the yoke I do plan to try more than one color, so I want to be able to claim Full Fair Aisle gloating rights once I actually do it.

I'm not sure I want to do that crazy of a deal - several colors - because you really need to put them on bobbins or whatever to do that and I'm not interested in that.

Do stay tuned, thougg, because the body of the sweater is done - it's 14 inches high as of last night - and I will be starting the sleeves today.

I know, I know - I NEVER do sleeved sweaters. But I kind of want to give this pattern the full try and without sleeves this is just another one of MY sweaters. I want to try this sleeves-and-yoke-on-same-needle deal.

If the sweater is too warm I can always give it away.

What I'm up to now....

2005-02-17T16:28:00.000-08:00

I got this great book, KNITTING WITHOUT TEARS, and it's just wonderful. Not only does Mz. Zimmerman Know Her Shit, she's a pleasure to read - salty and sarcastic - not what I was expecting from a knitting book, that's for sure.

Anyway her thing is Entirely Seamless Sweaters, and since that's my deal too I am VERY excited to give one a try. I'm combining some patterning (my first attempt) from her Ski Sweater with the body style of her Seamless Sweater.

You knit the thing in the round to the armpits, then knit the individual sleeves in the round up to the shoulders, then put the armpit stitches on holders and join the whole bastard up to do the yoke/shoulders/neck still in the round.

So far I'm about 10 or 11 inches in so I don't know how the whole thing will go - more as it progresses. In the meantime here's the progression of the pattern:

I'm using Twisted Sister half silk half wool and #7 and #8 needles. Gauge is 5 stitches to the inch for a Zimmerman sweater, and she means it. I used the 7s on the ribbing and the 8s on the body and pattern. I want it to come in a little at the waist so I'm back on the 7s until the armpit. There's no visible difference in the result so I think I will stick with the 7s.

Bottom two inches are K1 P1 rib. It's a really luxurious yarn and I think it will be a great sweater.

Oh and one more thing

2005-02-06T18:06:00.000-08:00

Oh and here's the newest sweater. This one is for Young Hank, who is about six months old now. I made this big so he can wear it I hope for a few months:

It's copied from a sweater Mary Heather made (Knit Café) and it's got a very cute boat neck.

Super-easy Recipe:

Front and back are the same - a square of whatever dimension you are after.

The first and last 9 rows are contrasting color in garter stitch, and the body between is main color in stockinette.

The only tricky thing is sewing the neck together but even that's not so bad. Then set the sleeves in - no knitting them on because of the seam at the boat neck - and sew the sides.

I used a 10.5 needle for the rainbow stuff and a size 10 for the blue.

The blue is Manos del Uruguay yarn, and one skein made all but the last 10 rows of the second sleeve, which leads me to contemplate that

1. a smaller sweater (this one is 12 x 12 inches) could be done with only one skein, or

2. if I'd put a stripe or something in the body I could have done the whole thing with the one skein.

Oh well, now I can make a matching hat and probably scarf too - the skein is I think 135 yards.

Let the cabling begin!

2005-02-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been a ridiculously long time since I posted to this blog.

Not that I haven't been knitting though - just not blogging.

At the end of 2004 I promised myself I would get some guts and learn some new stitches, starting with the dreaded CABLING.

I'd seen several books illustrating it but feared I would not be able to figure it out unless a human being showed me how to do it.

Then one night about a week ago or so I decided just to TRY it and see what would happen. I got out a ball of my old friend GOA - the easiest yarn in the world to knit with - and gave it a try.

You know what? It's super easy!

I'm not doing anything fancy, just two stitches on the needle, but I understand the process now and will be able to forge ahead with more complicated stuff.

Here's a hat I made - it's seed stitch with two cables at either side!

(one ball of 50g yarn, and not knitted in the round because I didn't want to have to worry about the cables joining properly at the top. So I did it as a tall rectangle, then folded it over, sewed the two side seams, threw on some tassels, and called it finished)

Thank you, Knit Café!

2004-12-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

I was in Knit Café yesterday, spending my birthday gift certificate (Yay, Jenny!), when I saw this great seamless hat. I could tell it was knit in the round but I couldn't figure out how the top was seamed so perfectly.

So I made the hat last night and thought I would get smart and use the three-needle bind-off I love so well -- well, without first turning the hat inside out, the three-needle technique left a visible seam across the top of the hat. Not in itself a bad thing, but also not the hat I wanted.

So I went to Knit Café first thing this morning and at long last I can perform the dreaded Kitchener Stitch needed to finish this hat.

The recipe:

Size 11 16" circular needles
I cast on 45 stitches so I would have an odd number to do my seed stitch
Yarn is 1 50g ball of Mondial Genius (100% wool) in the pink/cream/red color variety (0995)

This hat is knit entirely in the round with no decreasing - yay - the whole thing takes like two hours and you don't even have to pay much attention -

The finished product is too big for a baby but would be good for most kids. If you're doing it for a baby I'd cast on 39 or 41 stitches, depending on the yarn. This Mondial is $9.50 for the one ball and is nice and soft.

Okay you cast on and join without twisting - duh.

I did 4 rows of seed stitch, then did the rest in stockinette, which of course makes itself when you knit every row. At one point I knew there would be a long stretch of cream so I did I think 3 rows of seed stitch about 2/3 of the way up.

When the hat is about 8" high (or whenever you want), fold the work so the two needle ends are next to each other and finish the top seam with the Kitchener Stitch.

SEAMLESS HAT!

Stick on some pompoms and you're out the door!

All right, I know it's been a while

2004-11-24T17:52:00.000-08:00

So, SO much to update!

I've been too busy to post (boo), but not too busy to knit (yay).

Okay, here goes:

First, after much gnashing of teeth (and a few interim projects), I have Finally Finished TSTWD. I've even worn it a few times, and with the exception of it being a bit tight in the shoulders, it all came out fine.

The sleeve has a nifty skull and crossbones that I lifted from here:

http://smilingtiger.typepad.com/photos/finished_objects/skull.html.

I tried this pattern first on this cute baby hat

which went right over to Henry.

I love baby hats - even with the slow-down for the counting to make the skull pattern it still only took one night to make the hat.

Okay, so here's the wrapup on TSTWD:

I did the skull and crossbones on the outer right sleeve and it looks very cool. If you just keep your shit together and count correctly it's easy to do and it comes out great. The pictures suck because I took them with my phone.

I did have to change yarns on this thing but the shinier black lasted long enough to do the whole back and all of both fronts. The sleeves and collar are in the not-so-shiny black and it's really not noticeable at all.

More pics as I can take them - it's kind of a pain to take them, import to iPhoto, then upload and link. Also, it's a black cardigan - hard to take a decent shot of it.

(I know, waa waaa waaa)

Moving on to Young Bertram:

Jenny and I had been kicking around an idea for a Frankenstein sweater made of green yarn with embellishments of black to look like stitches. I had some Lion Brand Fun Fur and got the idea to make the sweater with the green sleeves but have the fronts and back in fur to look like a vest.

I only had one skein each of the chocolate and the copper so I alternated two rows of each color and it worked out great. The sweater doesn’t look striped; it's just a medium color instead of a dark brown or a light copper.

Sewing in the sleeves SUCKED though. I thought it would be easier than picking up the stitches but I may have been wrong. If I do another I will try it that way.

It still needs blocking, because that fur has no firmness, but I'm still pretty proud of it anyway:

In other news, I am also just about finishing a little yellow hat in a couple of different stitches for Young Bertram. By the time this kid gets here he'll have a whole wardrobe waiting for him!

One more thing on that last sweater

2004-10-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

If you feel hinky about the armhole decrease just leave it out!

This is a VERY EASY garment but it doesn't look like it!

Okay here's the scoop

2004-09-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

This is my latest project, the one done with no pattern at all.

Here it is on me. Admittedly this photo is horrible but it's the best I could do alone on a really dismal day.

Here it is laying flat on the floor. The colors are a lot nicer in person too.

Here you can see the nice seed stitch for the top 8 rows.

Here's the invisible 3-needle seam technique I love so much!

Okay here's how to make this sweater:

First, determine your gauge and how big around you want the thing, then CO the number of stitches you will need. I used a size 9 circular needle (24") because I wanted to knit this in the round. Not only does that make for tidier stripes (they can't not line up!) but it also lets you do One Row of a different color instead of two (one one way, the second the other way, to get you back to your other color yarn).

Okay so you cast on with C1 (the rainbow yarn for me) and you knit your first row. Then you join the work together and work in the round for 2 inches of K2 P2 rib in C1 (rainbow).

Change to C2 (green) and start stockinette stitch (which you will keep until the very end).

Here are the colors for the rows:

8 Rows of C2
1 Row of C1
6 Rows of C2
2 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
3 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
4 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
6 Rows of C1
4 Rows of C2
6 Rows of C1
3 Rows of C2
8 Rows of C1
2 Rows of C2
8 Rows of C1
1 Rows of C2
8 Rows of C1 in Seed Stitch

Here's what to do about the armholes:

When the piece is 13 or 14 inches high, you are going to separate the front from the back and stop working in the round. Put half your stitches on a holder (or if you're using Denise, knit halfway around and replace the needle ends with the stopper ends!) and keep the other half of the stitches on the needle. However you separate, You MUST secure the half that's not getting worked or you run the risk of losing it off the ends of the needle. If you put it on a straight needle, use a nice tight stopper.

Armhole decreases are done on the next three knit rows as follows:
K1, SSK twice, K to 3 from end, K2tog twice, K last stitch.

Continue even (changing colors as needed) until you reach the end of the color deal above. If the armhole isn't tall enough, keep going in Seed Stitch as many rows as you need. Once the armhole is high enough, do the next 15 sts in Seed Stitch, BO the center stitches, and do the last 15 sts in Seed Stitch. Transfer these stitches to a stitch holder.

Now do the other half the same way.

When you're ready to do the shoulder seam, get a book (HIP TO KNIT is great) or something that shows you the THREE NEEDLE SHOULDER SEAM. It's hard as hell to explain in words but it works great. Basically you put one set of stitches on one needle, the second on the second needle, then hold these two parallel right next to each other in your left hand as if they were one needle and bind off using a third needle in your right.

Put the pieces right sides facing each other and seam. Do this (duh) for each shoulder.

Hey, guess what? You're DONE.

(unless you count weaving in all the ends, but there's not much of that to do either on this, and I wholeheartedly support not doing it at all.)

Let me know if anyone tries this, and if so how it turns out!

[Interlude]

2004-09-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

I did a whole 'nother sweater in my break from TSTWD and will get pics and comments up today I hope. It's a sleeveless boatneck number knit in the round with a combination of two double-stranded yarns. The first is a light green and white and the second is a kind of variegated rainbow and white.

I didn't have enough green/white to make the whole thing so I did stripes with the rainbow/white and I must say I'm very pleased with it. I "winged it" throughout and barely even wrote notes of what I was doing, let alone make a plan ahead of time. It came out really good (but a little short - I keep making them longer and they still manage to come out about an inch too short).

This one was started as a project for our short-notice Oklahoma trip, but all I managed to get done was the 2-inch K2P2 rib at the bottom. Not much knitting time on that trip, and we watched movies on the plane.

Virtually Seamless

2004-09-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Taking a little break from TSTWD but here's an update - right now I've finished the fronts and back, and seamed the shoulders. I have picked up stitches for the sleeve and have begun knitting the first sleeve in the round.

If it ever gets finished, this sweater will have almost no seams - just the shoulders - because I did the fronts and back together (one wide piece) until the armholes, then separated and did the fronts up to the tops. Picking up the stitches for the sleeves at the shoulder means no fitting/sewing the sleeves in, and doing the sleeves in the round means no sewing the sleeves together.

We'll see whether that's a good idea or not when I've finished it.

See what I mean about Peggy?

2004-09-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Peggy sent this pic of her now completed FIRST SCARF.

Please notice she's got textured stockinette stripes and crochet edging, plus fringe - all of which SHE TAUGHT HERSELF.

Pretty damned humbling, I must say....

But hearty congrats to Peggy!

(One of us, one of us!)

Worship at the feet of Peggy!

2004-09-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Can you even believe it?

I turned my back on her for like five minutes the morning after Jenny showed her how to knit, came back into the room, and Peggy says, "Oh I think I taught myself to purl...."

WHAAAA?

Well sho 'nuff she did- just look at this!

(what she did in the first hour or so)

(by the next morning)

I'm so thrilled I could jump out of my skin - can't wait to go to NYC and scour the yarn stores with her. In fact if anyone reading this can recommend any Manhattan yarneries, I'd love to know about them.

Jenny's Done It Again!

2004-08-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well either that or Peggy totally hustled us.

Last night Jenny came over with the intent to teach Peggy to knit. She's never so much as touched a knitting needle before, and within seconds she's just whipping off stitch after stitch.

Awe-SOME!

Jenny has only taught about a million people to knit, and even she was impressed.

I'm upgrading my computer right now and will post pics of Peggy's knitting when able, but believe me, it's Freaking Perfect.

Every stitch in every row is the same - the sides are completely straight and the rows in her garter stitch are perfect.

It's SCARY - Jenny and I are both quite sure we've been flim-flammed, but out of what???

An update on The Sweater That Wouldn't Die (henceforth TSTWD)

2004-08-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Coming to an interesting point for this sweater.

I have a knitting for baby book with several cardigan patterns that have you knit a huge wide bit that is both fronts and the back until you reach the bottom of the armhole. For me, hater of seaming, this is ideal.

Once you reach the armhole area you do the front stitches, stick them on a holder (of course if you use Denise, there's a neat little trick), do the back stitches, and put the stitches for the other front on a different holder. It sounds confusing but it's really not.

From there you finish the back, then go back and finish the two fronts individually.

I haven't seen any books that show this for adult garments but I'm willing to give it a try.

So I've cast on enough stitches for the left front, back, and right front, and the piece is about 12 inches high. This took FOREVER because the needles are so small and there are so many freaking stitches in each row.

This is where I screw up in the past - I go to 13" and start on the armholes like it says in the patterns, but in the end the finished sweaters are always too short. I don't exactly know why, but that's what happens.

So with this one I plan to go 14 or even 15 inches before I do the separating, just to be sure.

I should be able to get these last three inches done tonight.

Thursday

2004-08-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

I know it's hard to believe but I have neither started nor finished any projects today. I did, however, fancy up the code up top here (again, thanks to Jenny).

More work tonight after dinner, on The Sweater That Wouldn't Die.

It's not the sweater's fault; it's mine. I actaually do need a plain black cardigan, and as I mentioned before, the ones on the fat needles are fast to make but too casual to look at. The sweater I'm working on now is being done I think on a #7, which is no #3 but still small for me.

Pictures if I take any, but I don't normally take pictures of stuff in progress.

Little Pinkie!

2004-08-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Okay so I just finished my secret project.

Jenny and I were in Suss last weekend and saw this half cape/half poncho completed and for sale for $200 - duh, no thanks. It was super-cute but Sweet Fancy Moses I'm not paying that kind of price for something that simple.

They had the exact yarn and even though I didn't really need it I also got the pattern - a grand total of I think $36, and Jenny paid $6 of that for the pattern.

This is done on a size 9, which made it take a lot longer than I'd expected - about a week and a half - but it certainly was easy to do, and not too much counting.

The pattern is cast on 100, do 10 rows, then do a decrease at either end every 3rd row until Row 71, then decrease at each end for the next 10 rows and then bind off. You make two of these and then sew the side seams - Easy!

I thought about whether or not to do it in the round, doing the decreases either at the end and mid-points or maybe trying some other way to get the math to work out, but in the end I decided to just follow the pattern (very hard for me - I always want to change stuff and I HATE sewing stuff together).

Also, Suss patterns are all but riddled with errors, so doing something "by the book" may not work anyway if that book is from Suss....

Well, I did follow the pattern and I have to say I think the side seams are actually nice. We'll see what Jenny has to say about it!

Picture is of the item itself, with the lovely Jenny in it, natch.

You'd better get yourself some of these!

2004-08-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

For anyone (me) who HATES to pin things for seaming, these little thingamabobs are truly a miracle.

I think they're from Clover, and I'm pretty sure I got them at Edna Hart on Rowena in Silver Lake. I don't remember what they cost but they're worth twice that.

I've never seen these before and immediately knew I would love them. They're like little padlocks - they can be used as markers on your needles, added later to your knitting and then secured, or, best of all, instead of those freaking PINS when you need to hold a seam together to sew or crochet it. They come in this package and have two colors: a fleshy pink and a turquoisey green.

Ingenious little inventions like this make life worth living.

About that tank top

2004-08-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Since I got the pattern for that top from a friend (at Knit Cafe) and then modified it, I have no problem with writing it up and posting it here.

I love making these - if you use 11s and do it in the round I swear you can do one in under a week with no sweat.

Using smaller needles of course means more time, but the end result is a lot more refined. The big needle ones are more casual and kind of chunky.

Pattern here later - as soon as I can wade through my notes.

The downside of winging it....

2004-08-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a cute sweater I made for newborn Henry. This blue yarn is variegated and the color runs from pale blue to pretty dark. It's cotton and very shiny.

After you do about a dozen baby sweaters, the patterns all start to run together and you start thinking, "Hey, maybe I don't need a pattern at all."

Well maybe you really do.

This is an absolutely adorable sweater, only it's just too small (as Henry is showing you). And besides that, newborns don't wear clothes - maybe hats, but beyond t-shirts and diapers you can just forget it.

Back to this sweater - I used pieces from a bunch of patterns and it came out exactly as I thought it would, only like I said Henry's barely a month old and already it's too small. (The back measures the standard 9 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches in most patterns, so maybe it's not about not using a pattern after all.)

What I will say about this sweater is this - small or not, there are several successes here: I hate to sew in sleeves so I did this one by picking up the stitches and knitting the sleeves out from the body of the sweater. I love to do this and am currently working on a Sweater That Wouldn't Die on which I plan to do this also. I also picked up the stitches to do a cute little roll neck and that came out great.

The sleeve deal may be a bit trickier for a grownup garment, though, and again this is when winging it can really cost you.

For baby sweaters if you knit the sleeves by picking up stitches you make the back and fronts straight - in other words none of that annoying Shape Armhole decreasing and binding off.

I guess I will tell you later if doing the same thing for an adult size will work or not.

(more on The Sweater That Wouldn't Die soon)

Allow me to introduce DENISE

2004-08-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

Almost two years have passed since Jenny (aka Knitting Sensei) taught me how to knit. Like many new knitters, once I decided to be a knitter I quickly realized I was going to need A LOT of needles - it seemed like every project I started needed a different one. And it wasn't enough to have #11s - depending on what you're doing you want long ones or short ones. Or circular ones - and if you get those then you need short, medium and long in those too (depending on what you want to make).

With that in mind, it wasn't long before I learned that knitting needles are expensive, and having literally dozens of pairs was getting pretty pricey. Of course, I went straight to eBay, and eventually I won an auction for a buttload of various needles and notions, which kept me happy for a while.

Then Jeanette told me about DENISE. My best friend Denise.

This is the greatest invention in the world.

In this case (which will run you about 40 bucks) you will find every needle in every size (5-15US) and every configuration you will ever need.

You can use them as circular needles, add the stoppers at either end of two center sections to make a pair of straight needles, use the stoppers at either end to make stitch holders, it's endless, I tell you - endless.

And the Denise needles are a pleasure to use: they're plastic but very smooth and all kinds of yarn just glide over them.

I should also mention that the whole thing is PLASTIC so you have no worries about the airport. The case is about the size of a small book, and takes up considerably less space than, say, four dozen knitting needles.

I was shocked not to find this amazing invention in any of my local LA knitting stores - I guess they want to sell needles - but you can get them on eBay all the time, or go direct to the source, knitdenise.com.

Here is a picture from their website:

It's hard to believe, but almost no one I know has even heard of these needles, and for the past several months I've been using nothing but.

(Previously I was all hopped up on the TURBO needles, which are super-great, but still not as perfect and efficient as Denise.)

Some grownup knitting (aka my crapmed closet)

2004-08-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots of my closet. I realize now that most of these are inside-out. I guess I hang them that way so they won't get dusty? Who knows. Okay so I'm crazy.

Anyway here are a bunch of things I made and ended up keeping for myself.

The ones with the kind of spaghetti straps are SUPER easy to do because you knit them in the round and use #11s. I can do one of these in two or three nights (I do 90% of my knitting after 7pm in front of the tv - yes, life IS exciting).

Special thanks go to Cooper's mom Patti for showing me the Half Double Crochet I now use for the straps. It's not too bulky and it lays down very nice.

Some other stuff

2004-08-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

Here are pics of some other stuff I've made.

These are all old, but I managed to catalog the stuff before giving it away.

My first sweater set

2004-08-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

This one is from WAY back, but it's the first set I ever made and it's still very cute.

The model is Lucy, who will be two at the end of this year.

This is from the Suss HOLLYWOOD KNITS book and I've made so many of these now that I can do them in my sleep. In fact a plane between LA and NY I got all the parts done and had only to crochet them together by the time we landed.

I'd rather be knitting

2004-08-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

Okay the only way I can justify having a blog is if it's about knitting.

I long ago quit taking photos of my projects before I give them away, so
there won't be any older stuff here.

But maybe this will motivate me to get back into the shapshotting of these
things. Maybe I will just ramble instead.

You never know.

What a Scoop!

2004-08-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

What a Scoop!
Originally uploaded by ruth666.

Look at me, I'm blogging photos like a big girl!