woolythyme

Ta-Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah!!

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A weekend packed with finishing and blocking...

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:: The lobster socks (don't they sort of look lobster-y...right down to the green goo innards?) made from Indulgence that I got at Heavenly Socks in Belfast, Maine.  Souvenir yarn that didn't stay in the souvenir stash long.  This is just my very basic 64-stitch sock...

        CO 64 stitches.  Join in round.

        Knit, knit, knit until the leg is 'long enough'

        Divide stitches in half (32) and make a heel flap about 2.50"

        Turn heel.

        Pick up gusset (as many stitches as you need)

        Dec gusset back to original 64 stitches.

        Knit, knit, knit til the foot is about 2" from your tippy-toe

        Dec toe to 20 or 24 stitches.

        Kitchener.  Ta-dah.

It took 3 starts to get them identical.  Usually my socks are fraternal twins.

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::  Rustling Leaves Beret by Alana Dakos made with Bugga, Bugga!!  Soft, squishy, light---perfect for a fall day, maybe too light for a wintery one.  This was going to be a travel project, but got finished before we got too far in the travels and had to wait until I got home to block.  I should have borrowed a plate (like Stephanie did!!!) Brilliant idea!  (I'm not brilliant.)

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::  I love Alana Dakos' botanical patterned knits, so decided to make some mitts.  The acorn pattern on these really needed to be an earthy color (yes, I know, the leaves on the above beret should NOT have been blue!! but remember, the color was blue lobster, and I was going to Maine!!---there is a definite downside to knitting from the stash!), Unfortunately all I could find in the stash was some old unidentified Rowan wool that has been there f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  (make that f-o-r-e-v-e-r and a day.  a long time.)  I really don't like the color and with all the wonderful soft wools available now---I'm not even too crazy about the feel of the wool---but it's what I had, and honestly, I sort of surprised myself by liking the way they turned out.  They are warm. (everything was warm today---it was 90+ degrees at the ballfield; not the best place to model winter mitts!!)  Fit perfectly.  And actually are acorn-colored.

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::  And last but not least.....Desert Rose (started before the Kenya trip---had it's needles taken in Brussels, was finished on top of Cadillac Mountain in Maine), and finally got blocked.

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A four ta-dah weekend.  Now THAT hasn't happened in a while!!!!

Low tide...

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Low Tide Cardigan knit with Madeline Tosh sock. (Crazy..... all these pictures are of the same sweater....just taken at different times of day....the first is closest to the actual color--definitely grey, not blue!)

It's been a long time since I've worked so hard to make a project work....this little vest was blocked/reblocked/reblocked/then blocked one more time (one of the many reasons I LOVE wool!)

 

It is knit from the top down, so shortening it wasn't a huge ordeal, but it had to be shortened twice (that was about 4" worth of knitting!!  EGAD!)  (Those front tails are really really long, and I'm sort of short-waisted---it was a bad combo.)

Even though I'm an extremely loose knitter--and can usually bind off loosely with no problem, the bind-off just wasn't right, so it got ripped out a third time--but, the third time was the charm.  I used Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind-off (Cat Bordhi's video demo) and learning this bind-off was worth all the fiddling!  It would be great for toe-up socks (if I knit toe-up socks!);  it will be perfect for shawls, and it was just the thing this little vest needed to keep the fabric drapey.

The lace panel bodice is knit first, so you have to decide early in the project whether there will be button holes or crocheted loops.  I'm not much of a crocheter, but I'm glad I decided on the loops; the buttons seem to nestle in them so nicely,

  

and, the very best thing about this project is the buttons, handmade and gifted from a dear friend.......who lives in low-tide country.  What could be more perfect?

nupps, nupps, and more nupps...

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Prairie shawl  from Jujuloops.  Knit with Malabrigo sock.

All those little nupps!!  I learned alot.  I've done 'nupps' before, and struggled through them, but when you are facing 310 (I counted AFTER the shawl was done; I probably wouldn't have started it had I known there were that many), you are bound to learn something.

(a 'nupp' =:  k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 all in a single sitich, then on the returning row, you purl all 7 stitches together;  a nupp can have any number of odd number of stitches in that single stitch; I was really glad this pattern didn't call for 9 loops!)

What I learned:

• you MUST keep your stitches l-o-o-s-e!!!  Now, this should be a piece of cake for someone who knits as loosely as I do;  but, not the case.  In fact, when you are a loose knitter, it's mainly because your stitches are farther apart on the needle, not that they have a larger loop.  So---LARGE LOOP mandatory.
• most instructions have you purling those nupp stitches on the return (wrong side) row.  For some mysterious reason (I think having something to do with my stitches being farther apart on the needle than most), my l-o-o-s-e stitches tightened up.  GAG tight.  The alternate instructions in JujuLoops worked for me (eventually); after making the nupp loops, immediately turn your work, knit those 7 loops together, put this knit stitch back on your right hand needle and keep going.  (Makes purling the wrong side a breeze---no nupp loops to worry about.)
• So, how to knit all those loops?  Insert your right needle (and you MUST use a pointy needle!!!)  almost parallel to the left needle through the back of the loops.  Then scoop the right needle to the front of the left needle and very carefully draw the yarn through the loops, with the tip of the needle still slightly pointed down.  This scoop-y thing took me nearly the entire project to figure out; it's very counterintuitive.  You are CERTAIN that the yarn will fall off the needle or get dropped in the middle of the nupp,  but it doesn't.  In fact, the bigger the scoop, the more easily the yarn glides through the nupp loops.  Promise.  It works.  (I had a lot of practice.)

Unfortunately, I was scooping nupps most of the week and have no book to share.  I did download Under Wildwood (the Wildwood sequel)  but found I couldn't even listen and nupp at the same time.  And just last night I picked up The Book of Air and Shadow by Michael Gruber.  (Literally, picked it up, opened to page 1, and went to sleep.)  More on them later.

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 I'm really glad I nupped.

joining Ginny for Yarnalong!  

Yarnalong and WIP Wednesday....

I loved A Prayer for Owen Meany so much that I decided to pull out another classic that I should have read years ago, but didn't.  So here goes.....A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I've only read the introduction, so have absolutely nothing to say about it yet.

 

I was able to get two cowls from two skeins of Madeline Tosh light; I'm thinking this may be a great way to use up some of those orphan partial balls of fingering weight yarn that are kicking around from the shawl frenzy I was on earlier in the year!!  I grapped two of the larger ones--enough? Maybe.  Probably.  We'll see.  I think I could add another color without messing up the design too much. So---on the needles--a third cowl.

See the crochet hook in the picture?  A crochet cast on (there are a gazillion tutorials on the internet--I just grabbed one) is the only cast on that mimics a traditional bindoff.  I think this is rather important with something like a cowl where you can really see both edges.   (This is a great provisional cast on, too---so it's definitely worth trying if you've never done it before!!!)

And the holiday knitting just keeps right on going.  (I must start early, because I guarantee I'll be very very very bored with this cowl-love SOON!)

joining Ginny for Yarnalong and Tami for WIP Wednesday! (for anyone linking from Yarnalong---the giveaway was last week; the gremlin in the computer decided to add that to my name again....sorry.)

Ta Dah Tuesday

 

 

Poor Folded had serious problems this week.  Someday I'll learn to go with my gut instincts.  I didn't think I had enough yarn, so I decided to stripe the yoke--and make the sweater a "bit" shorter.  I ran out anyway.  The good thing was that String Theory doesn't have a dyelot and ordering more was no problem--and their delivery was incredibly fast.

I got some church charity knitting in while I "patiently" (anyone who knows me and knitting knows that I'm really being generous to myself here with the word patient!) waited. (Precious baby jacket in Gifted by Mags Kandis.)

So now I have an additional 400 yds of yarn, and only a couple inches of the striped yoke left to knit. Folded looked seriously short.  I tried it on.  It was ridiculously short.  I'm sure you all know that when you knit something from the bottom up, you can't just rip out from the bottom where you cast on and remove the ribbing.  You must CUT the ribbing off and knit down.  Yes, scissors cut.  (The principle is the same that Lori used when she so amazingly demonstrated her afterthought pockets.  It's a wonderful tutorial. You can stop reading right now and go see it.  Go on!  I'll wait.  The first time I cut my work, though, I added a glass of wine.  She recommends something a bit stronger!)  Anyway, what you must also keep in mind with this kind of adjustment....whether it's making sleeves longer or shorter---or the body longer (great for kid sweaters) or shorter....you are NOT going to wear the garment as it is.  If you make a horrible mess of the project (which you won't) you are not going to wear the garment.  So you absolutely cannot lose--if it works (which it will!!!!) you have a sweater you love; if it doesn't, you are right where you were before you tried the fix.  (Yes, I can rationalize most anything.)

So, you take one little snip, then c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y unknit one stitch at a time while you place these live stitches on a needle.  It takes a bit of time--especially when you have over 200 stitches to unknit and each "unknit" stitch has three yarn passes through each one, but eventually they all get on the needle--and then you pretend you've been knitting the whole sweater top down and continue until you get the length you like.  Easy Peasy.  And you CANNOT tell you've made a major correction.  Perfect.

 

(This picture is AWFUL--I took it during the storm over the weekend--and yes, this is my bathroom--where the only full length mirror lives--I should have croopped the potty out, sorry.)  But, Folded isn't a bad length now!

 

I'm rather happy with it.

Folded-----folded. 

 

(If you haven't seen this video yet---you MUST!!  This is SOOO me--and you, too, if you've been reading this blog.  Afterall, we're knitters!!!!)

FO Friday

Isn't it amazing that a blob of yarn like this....

can turn into this.....???

Blocking is a knitter's best friend. 

 

See what others have finished at Tami's.

A little lazy knitting reminiscing...

I'm just sitting here, merrily knitting along on my Vitamin D sweater (want a progress picture?),

 

 

 

making those m1l and m1r without giving them a second thought.  There was a time I NEVER thought this would happen.  For years I had to keep my "cheat sheet" handy--I used the instructions that Judy Pascale wrote for her Shapely Shawlette.  GREAT how-to, and followed religiously, they looked good every time, but I just couldn't SEE how right and left looked different. I can read my knitting pretty well, but this scooping from the front...knitting in the back... or whatever....glazed my eyes over.  My copy was dog-eared (and dog chewed).

And then one day, I was nestled in to my knitting nook and comfy chair. I had a snack within reach--my tea by my side.  I was set for at the very least the morning--at best, most of the day.  (People think I knit fast--I don't.  I just knit A LOT. And for long stretches at a time.  I keep my fingers loose by waving to Tiny Tears every once in awhile.  I just noticed she isn't wearing anything handknit--have to remedy that. )  I digress.

 

 

I was happy.  (Can't remember what I was working on, though.)  And then.....

m1l  (followed by a m1r later in the row.  NOOOOOOOOO!!!! (*&^(&^&%%$@@!!!!!!!).  This was NOT supposed to be part of the directions.  My cheat sheet was across the room--and I'm a lazy knitter.  I admit it.  I just wasn't going to get up to get it.  (It was all of about 5 feet across the room; but I'd have to turn off the talking book, mark my place on the pattern, put the knitting out of the dog's reach, dig through the stack of patterns to FIND the treasured instructions...nope, just wasn't going to do it.)  OK. Deep breath. I've done this a gazillion times--I think I can figure this out on my own.  Surely. Carefully, I picked up the bar between the stitches with my right hand needle, scooping it from the back; I put it on the left hand needle; I knit into the back of the stitch--and for the FIRST TIME EVER I saw how that little stitch got pulled to the left.   Oh, surely it can't be this easy.  Let me try a m1r---scoop in the front of the stitch, put it on the left  needle, knit in the front--by golly, the little stitch was being pulled to the right.  m1l, m1r, m1l, m1r....yeah, I sort of messed up the whole row in my delight......but, I didn't have to get up to get my cheat sheet!  

I learned to cable without a cable needle in the same way.  It really pays to be lazy sometimes.