Exercise Before Knitting

Babies! Swaps! No way are you going to even manage a peek at all the knitting going on here! I offer you a drive by post on the socks I just finished for my mother-in-law.

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in “Violet”, a gift from Christine
Needles: US 1 1/2

This is a basic 68-stitch cuff deceased down to a 60-stitch foot. I’ve been studying like mad so I needed a project that was even more mindless than usual (why bother knit, really?). I like how these look but I admit that stockinette socks always end up being more work than I anticipate because I count rows to match the second sock to the first one. A few people from my knitting group laughed and suggested a tape measure would yield more or less the same results but I prefer to match my socks to the row!

Next up is a great stashbuster! This is the beginning of the Aspen Neck Cowl (Rav link here) with Posh Yarn Emily.

This is actually inside out. I prefer knitting this pattern inside out because I knit faster than I purl. Here is the other side (the right side) of the fabric.

Lastly, somebody has learned to knit! Or, sort of. We caught Beatrix “knitting” shoe laces last week. How old does she have to be before she gets her first pair of needles?

The more I think about the San Francisco Marathon, the more I think it’s a bad idea. Perhaps I’ll run the half marathon. I could aim for a better, faster race instead of slog my way through 26 miles. A few of you mentioned that you’re running too, which I think is fabulous! I fully support the runner’s high addiction. And let’s not forget the yarn addiction! I think we should all get together and run a nice half marathon in a city with great yarn shops. It would be the perfect marriage of two dangerous hobbies!

Progress on the knitting front has been less than perfect, however. I’m almost to the armholes on one of the fronts of the Katharine Hepburn Cardigan. I look forward to the other half of the front because all of the cables will go the other direction, which I find easier to do without a cable needle.

While knitting the other day, I found myself wondering about why the yarn cake deforms the way it does. I’m pulling yarn from the left in this picture but as I pull out the innards of the cake, it bulges to the right. Why is that? I would expect it to explode in the direction I pull. Anyone? Erin? Adam? People who know physics? You now know what absurd things I think about as the semester draws to a close. I’m studying for finals and the MCAT but hey, what’s up with my yarn cake? I am easily distracted at the beginning of May.

Lastly, once I realized that I was on track to complete one pair of socks per month, I decided that I had to cast on for a mindless stockinette pair for my May socks. I actually started these weeks ago but there has been a shocking dearth of knitting around these parts so they are only now making an appearance. I cast off the first one this afternoon and I’ll probably start the second one later this week.

While my knitting seems interminably stuck in the pinks and purples, locally grown asparagus adds a nice splash of color to my day! If only my tomato plants would GROW! It is so hard to pick out tomato plants at the nursery because each variety is supposed to be the BEST TOMATO YOU’VE EVER TASTED. I may have planted close to 20 plants. I have no willpower when it comes to the best tomato ever tasted.

Thank you for your many insightful comments and observations about my last post. I will entertain the possibility of a regular summer open house, garden permitting; however, I think Amy is right in pointing out the danger of trying to recreate something from one’s youth. Still, Wendy and Nova and Ann have found ways to make open houses work. And Zarah pointed out that Kelli frequently hosts community suppers - Kelli’s suppers were what made me think a common meal could work. Nevertheless, you all brought up interesting points and I appreciate your thoughts. Let’s continue a discussion about this in the community we share: the knitblogosphere!

Let’s move on to the knitting! I have been working on some old projects lately, adding more length to my Drunken Bee sock and finishing up the back of my Katharine Hepburn cardigan.

I started this one last fall but I set it down because the stitch pattern is both mindlessly dull and impossible to knit while reading. Nevertheless, I love how it looks! The pattern is from Lace Style (Ravelry link here) and the yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in “Chuck Berry”.

Taking stock of my recent projects (this sweater, my Newburyport socks) and my remaining sock yarn stash tells me that I have a color problem. Specifically, I have a problem with pinks and purples. Who knew? I always thought my favorite color was blue! Needless to say, there will be a lot of pink and purple knitting coming your way in the coming months. I will certainly return to blue and green yarn once this stash is exhausted. In the meantime, what does one do with 4 oz of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in BRIGHT PINK???

And speaking of that sock stash, it is down to 13 pairs worth of socks (from 21). I used up four pairs and traded away almost all the Knit Picks. This is what remains. There is hope!

Finally, in an exercise bit of news, I finished my second half marathon yesterday and cut about 22 minutes off my time (largely for lack of desperate porta-potty stops). I think I ran about a 9:30/mile pace but I had to walk mile 11 because I got bad cramps. In the end, I think my time was around 2:11. It would really be nice to break 2:00 next time around!

I’m thinking about running the San Francisco Marathon in August but I’m pretty much scared witless. Any opinions? Do any of you lovely knitters want to run a marathon this summer/fall? Tell me all about it! I need to be talked into this one.

Just after Beatrix was born, I bought a skein of J. Knits Superwash Me Light Sock yarn in the Newburyport color. It was most certainly an impulse buy, driven both by post-partum boredom and nostalgia for the time I spent in Newburyport as a teenager. My boarding school was a few miles outside of Newburyport and the school ran Saturday morning vans into town. I’ve been thinking a lot about the old school lately, in part because my 10th reunion is coming up this June but there’s more to it. I must say that my greatest disappointment with adult life is the incredible lack of community in my life. By this, I do not mean friends. I mean community. Let me explain by telling you a little bit about this school.

Every Saturday night, the headmaster and his wife would open their home to students, faculty and faculty families. There were pool and ping pong tables in the basement, a game or a movie on the television in the den, an informal chess tournament, lots of board and card games and a piano in the living room and a bridge game at 9 p.m. The food was a teenage treat as well: ice cream, chips, nachos and all the soda one could consume. There may also have been weekly bets as to whether my freshly charred baked chocolate chip cookies would bring the fire department but that is a story for another day. Nevertheless, Open House was a chance for people to relax after a grueling week, to catch up with friends and to spend time together.

Looking back on it, some of the most important lessons I have learned came from Saturday Open House. At the time, I valued being with friends. What I think is even more valuable now is the time I spent with people who were not my friends: faculty, acquaintances and even declared enemies! I think it is a very humanizing experience to sit around a table with people who are not close friends and have frank, honest discussions about life, the universe and everything. In fact, I believe these sorts of encounters formed the basis of the school’s strong community spirit. They are most certainly what I find lacking in my life today.

Would it even be possible to recreate Open House in a non-campus environment? I have my doubts. Most likely, it would involve cars, planning and the Midwestern bringing of casseroles - in other words, it would be just another party. A community supper might be another idea - and one that my garden could support, at that. I wonder if a supper could ever reach a critical mass, however. Still, neither is the same as walking in your neighbor’s back door, kicking off your shoes and grabbing a bite to eat before jumping into a bridge game.

What do you think? Do you keep any community traditions? Is Open House worth trying to recreate or is it something that should be left alone? Discuss!

Oh yeah, socks. They’re done, I’m happy with them and you should all go buy J. Knits. Specs below.

Pattern: Latvian Socks from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush

Yarn: J. Knits Superwash Me Light Sock (550 yards/skein!) in “Newburyport”

Needles: US 0

Even though these were knit on size 0s, I loved knitting these socks! The yarn was just wonderful. I have enough yarn left over for another knee sock! J. Knits = great yardage for big feet.

Lately, knitting and blogging have taken a back seat to other stupid mindless time wasters hobbies like crossword puzzles, Scrabble and Boggle. Is it knitting-related to play Scrabulous and Scramble with other knit bloggers on Facebook? In any case, I have been terrible about checking in with all of you so I hope to get back on track this week.

In the meantime, I have been knitting and sewing a few projects for Beatrix, as I mentioned in my last post. I promise not to turn this into a baby clothing circus blog - that is, sock knitting will return next time - but the kid needs some sweaters and sun dresses make summer diapering and swimming so much easier that I can’t resist the temptation.

Pattern: No. 23 Pull in 24 mos. size, Phildar Tricotez Calin (No. 470) from Spring/Summer 2007

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in Blue Denim

Needles: US 7

This expression is Beatrix for “ICK! WOOL IN SPRINGTIME! TAKE IT OFF NOW!” She was particularly uncooperative so this is the only picture you get. I will probably try again next winter when it fits her (and also when it’s not so hot out). As with all Phildar baby patterns, this was super easy and the seaming took nearly as long as the knitting. I made the usual modification of picking up stitches for the neck and button bands instead of knitting them separately.

Last week, I made some progress on the little cardigan but I need to rip and re-knit one of the fronts so we are not on such great terms right now.

The yarn in Classic Elite Cotton Bam Boo, which has great stitch definition but could probably pass for Knit Picks Shine Sport. While I like this yarn for a baby sweater, I cannot imagine knitting one for me with it - I would expect an adult sweater to lose its shape quite quickly.

Finally, have a peek at the toddler sewing projects! I am making several dresses for B, all from the same, very simple pattern (Butterick B4712). Here is the first one.

I am using extra wide, double-sided bias tape for the neck and armholes because my seaming is pretty ugly there. Fortunately, bias tape hides everything. Not until I uploaded this photo to Flickr did I see the near perfect stitching here. Please believe the rest of the garment looks like that! No? Would you believe most of it? OK, some of it and we’ll leave it at that.

Finally, this is the next one in the queue, all cut and pieced but missing a zipper and some top-stitching.

That’s it for this edition of the baby blog. Tune in next time for some finished Latvian socks!

I know it’s been weeks since I checked in but I’ve been terribly distracted by spring and all the hope it brings. I am giddy, full of ideas and furiously planning for the summer. Furthermore, my knitting has not excited me much so I’ve had little blogging to do. The end of winter absolves me of my nagging guilt over not knitting anything for Beatrix this year; instead, I am now liberated to knit her a few sweaters for next winter.

Pattern: DROPS Design b13-18 Jacket

Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in Bulldog Blue

Needles: US 4

Modifications: I omitted the crochet edgings on the collar and cuffs.

I wanted a navy sweater but I regret that the color quite obscures the pattern. I’ll know better next time. The photos below are more accurate representations of the color.

In the end, it’s a sweet little sweater that will see a great deal of use but it was not very interesting to knit. With one sweater down, I’m off to make two more for toddler Beatrix, both from Phildar’s Tricotez Calin (no 470):

Tune in next week for more complete updates!

Pattern: A simple 64-st 3×1 garter rib sock with an 8-st decrease over 8 rows for calf shaping

Yarn: ShibuiKnits Sock in Bark

Needles: US 1 1/2

Since I’ve needed mindless socks to work on to get through some dense reading lately, I worked up a second pair of garter rib socks. I changed needles for the calf shaping for the last pair but I didn’t have smaller needles on me when I reached the shaping on these so I used decreases.

I’m a bit ambivalent about which method is better. I think I prefer changing needle sizes but it’s hard to talk myself into using anything smaller when I’m desperate to get to the heel.

The yarn was a little disappointing, given the promise of no pooling. It did not pool with 56 sts on size 1 needles but there was plenty of pooling at the ribbing (64 sts), the heel turn and the toe. While it looks like Koigu or CTH, as Christy warned me at the time I bought it, Shibui Sock is a bit thinner than it looks (along the lines of Lorna’s Shepherd Sock). Nevertheless, that’s one more pair of socks for the rotation and two more skeins of sock yarn gone!

I cast on a pair of Latvian Socks from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush with some J. Knits, thinking that this lace pattern would be easy to do while reading. As it turns out, it’s not exactly mindless knitting so I might cast on some stockinette socks. I do love how the pattern works up, however. Isn’t the picot lovely?

More on these next week!

Finally, I must thank Tiennie, Laura and Stella for tagging me for the Make My Day meme! I’m so flattered! I feel conflicted about choosing only a few people to tag because there are so many of you! Needless to say, my blog roll makes my day. I love seeing the beautiful garments you all create and I look forward to reading your posts about them so you’re all tagged! Have a wonderful weekend!

Thank you for your wonderful comments on my vest! I also appreciate the wise knitters who pointed out that Beaverslide should not sit in a closet and that I should rip the raglan. I know you’re right. After all, if our positions were reversed, that’s exactly what I’d be telling you to do. In fact, I think I told Liz K just last week that she should rip rather than settle for a too-long sweater with a perfect tubular cast on. If spring were not just around the corner, I would be ripping away. Instead, I will let my sweater alone until next fall when I could really use 900 yards of Beaverslide.

In the meantime, I can show off another pair of dull socks. These might be my favorite every day socks yet, if hopelessly dull to knit.

Yarn: Koigu KPM in 2343

Pattern: 3×1 Garter Rib with Calf Shaping

Needles: US 1 1/2 and 0

This was the first time I’ve ever used Koigu (much to my amazement) and I definitely think it is worth every penny, even if the yardage is CRAP. Fortunately, Julieknits at Ravelry had half a skein of this color that she generously sent me because, as I may have mentioned before, Koigu’s yardage is crap. I actually finished these with less than 12 inches of yarn. I used Julie’s yarn to reinforce the heels. I’m stunned that I almost ran out. I have tiny feet and these legs do not strike me as particularly long. What’s a girl with even average sized feet to do? That would be an expensive pair of 3-skeined socks!

I experimented with some calf shaping by dropping down to a size 0 needle for the lower part of the leg. The rest of the sock was knit on size 1.5 needles.

You can tell that I’ve been doing a lot of studying lately because I’m just cranking out easy socks. Here is the first of another pair of 3×1 garter rib socks in Shibui Knits Sock, although this time I used decreases for the calf shaping. Glenna has also been testing out methods to get the perfect, slouch-free sock. You should check out the cool knee socks she just finished. I used to think that I couldn’t last through knitting knee socks but I suspect with the right yarn, it would be possible.

After I knit the first pair, I really wanted to go buy more Koigu. It makes such a nice sock in spite of the yardage. Nevertheless, I simply cannot bring myself to buy more because of the sock yarn I have in stash. I tried adding it up in my head and I came up with enough yarn for 9 pairs. That seemed like a lot until I tracked it all down. Try 21 pairs. And some of it is really, really nice too! I decided that it would be an appropriate exercise in self-discipline to knit what I have, if only to punish myself for buying icky yarn (hi, Knit Picks Essential) just because it was cheap. So here you have my 21 potential pairs, although I cheated a bit and included the Froehlich I just used up because it was so old and I was so proud of myself for getting rid of it. I hope chip away at this until at least all of the Knit Picks is gone so that I can buy nice yarn guilt-free. In the meantime, I will be living vicariously through Megan and her twelve lovely single socks.

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my striped socks! I had no idea striped socks would cause such a stir. I must say that the opposite striping was less of a design element and more of my inner cheapskate trying squeeze out as much sock as possible from two skeins. I’ll put together a tutorial on better striping in the coming weeks.

For now, I have not one but THREE finished objects for you! The Ivy League Vest is the only real FO, the others are December knits I haven’t yet blogged.

#1: The Good

Pattern: Ivy League Vest by Eunny Jang, Interweave Knits Winter 2007

Yarn: Harrisville New England Shetland in Oatmeal, White, Sandalwood, Wedgwood and Midnight Blue

Needles: US 4

Modifications: I used blues instead of a teal/loden combination, omitted Pearl (gray) and sized up (37.5″) because my gauge was almost 8 sts/in instead of 7 sts/in. I also knit the ribbing on US 4s. When I cast on on 2s, it was too small so I did all of the ribbing on 4s.

In this picture, the back view looks stretched out at the bottom but it’s not. I just didn’t notice the weird distortion until after I put the camera away.

My only regret is that I didn’t make this longer. It fits fine and I’ll wear it but I would love a few more inches. I thought about extending it early on but decided that 14″ from underarm to bottom would be enough. I’ll know better next time.

#2: The Bad

This next FO is a sweater that I started in September when I met Christy in Portland. I finished it in October but it required some fixing so I let it stew until December when I finished it up for good.

Pattern: DROPS 91-8

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes

Needle: US 8

Modifications: I knit the medium size but since my gauge was off 1 st/4″, I should have gone down. The shoulders are too wide and while I can live with dropped shoulders, this made the arms WAY too long. I cut off both sleeves near the underarm and reknit them down to the cuff. I decided to reknit the sleeves completely to get the shaping to fit in the appropriate places.

I think the sweater is OK, although I probably wouldn’t knit this again unless I were using a very rigid yarn. Knit Picks WoTA is a little too drapey for my taste. The other problem is that I haven’t yet found a clasp to keep this closed so I haven’t worn it. I would like to wear it open but the fronts just flap around and look peculiar so this will be a closed bolero for me!

#3: The Ugly

Finally, the raglan from Hell. I’m calling it the Top Down-Bottom Up-Top Down Raglan. I knit this in December and never got around to blogging it because frankly, I hated this project. Nothing about it worked. I used Barbara Walker’s Classic Raglan Pullover pattern, knit a swatch, washed the swatch, measured, calculated stitch counts and knit from top to bottom. It should have been the perfect sweater because I did everything you’re supposed to do! Well, it wasn’t. Not even the FO pictures I took came out properly so this is all you get. This sweater is one for the closet.

Pattern: Barbara Walker’s Classic Raglan Pullover from Knitting from the Top (with lots of guidance from Elizabeth Zimmermann)

Yarn: Beaverslide 90/10 Worsted Weight in Glacier Heather, about 4 skeins

Needles: US 8

The only redeeming aspect of this sweater was the yarn. Beaverslide is a dream to work with and it stands up to frogging like you wouldn’t believe! I will definitely be buying more. It’s just the perfect tweedy wool. It would be much better for cables too! I intend to wear this sweater in spite of my complaints about it. However, I will not rule out frogging it at a later date to reuse the yarn!

While I finished knitting the Ivy League Vest last weekend, it still has a million ends to weave in. I hope to finish it up this weekend so you’ll see pictures next week of the blocked version. In the meantime, remember how I was bemoaning the lack of easy, mindless, on-the-go projects? The real reason I never have fast, easy projects around is that since said projects are fast and easy, they fly off the needles!

Pattern: 64-stitch stockinette sock with K2P2 rib

Yarn: Froehlich Special Blauband (sadly discontinued several years ago)

Needles: US 1 1/2

I’ve had two skeins of this sock yarn stewing in stash for a few years! I decided that I really shouldn’t dig into my nice sock yarn stash for a plain stockinette project so I paired these two together, for better or worse. I’m quite satisfied with the result! Initially, I followed Meg Swansen’s “jogless join” method (tutorial from sockknitters.com here) to keep the join clean. You can see the unimpressive results below.

It’s not bad but I felt sure I could do better by carrying the unused yarn up the seam the way one might in a color work project.

For my taste, that’s much better! There’s a bit of a jog but at least no bulky seam of loose stitches from the k2togs. I couldn’t find a good tutorial for carrying the yarn up the seam - does anyone out there have one? If not, I’ll post one sometime soon.