Stitches East Comes to Baltimore

Since Stitches was practically in my own backyard I decided to check it out. It wasn’t as big as the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival but I still managed to find some things to buy. The highlight for me was definitely Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I headed there first thing Friday morning and was rewarded by riches beyond measure. There were none of the screaming, pushing hordes from Maryland either. I tried to hold back, but there were four colors that I just couldn’t resist. I was especially delighted to see their Lightweight yarn. I was disappointed when I got home from Maryland and discovered that I had bought Medium weight. I like my sock yarn in a finer weight. The only other purchase I made Friday was also sock yarn – Regia Bamboo. I had never seen it before and I do like bamboo.

Here’s the sock yarn:

4 skeins Socks That Rock

Regia Bamboo

I was really looking for something special for a dressy jacket. I found it just before closing on Saturday. I found it at the Seaport Yarn booth. I couldn’t resist a blue and purple rayon metallic blend and a kid mohair in the most gorgeous blue I’ve ever seen.

Here they are:

Blue Violet/Silver Rayon Metallic from Wagtail Yarns

Inky Blue Ripple from Blue Heron Yarns

And I bought a couple of patterns:

And some cute stuff from Everything But Yarn:

But by far the highlight of my weekend was seeing so many friends. I met up with lots of online friends, caught up with my favorite vendors (like Buffy from Shelridge Farms), ran into an old friend who had moved away and lost touch, and met a lot of interesting people while standing in line and sitting around the big tables in the food area. I heard a rumor that Stitches East will be returning to Baltimore next year. I think you can count on seeing me there.

What I Did During My Summer Vacation

….from blogging.

I finished my Spirit Trail socks:

Yarn: Spirit Trail sock yarn from Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

Pattern: My basic toe up, short row heel. The cuff pattern is knit the first row; knit 3, purl 1 for the second row and repeat.

I made a pair of gift socks (since they’re for a 13 year old girl I seriously doubt she’ll see my blog):

Yarn: Sockotta Bold Stripe Effect from The Celtic Knot Yarn Shop

Pattern: My basic toe up, short row heel. The stitch pattern is basically knit 3, purl 1, but I switched to stockinette every time the color changed which changed the look a bit.

I knit a bunch of stuff for a church bazaar:

Scarves: Paton’s Boa (1 skein, 16 stitches, knit until done)

“Heart Felt Wishes” Bowl

Apple hat

Pumpkin hat

I’ve worked on a bunch of other stuff too, but that’s all I’ve managed to finish. In the future I promise to update my blog more frequently than once every five months. *smile*

Short Row Heels

…and the woman who loves them.

I originally tried short row heels because I was looking for a heel that really looked good in self patterning yarn. Once I knitted my first one I fell head over heels for them. (Sorry – I just couldn’t resist that one.) <grin> I love the “bullseye” pattern you get.



These are the Spirit Trail socks I’m working on now. The weird looking spot where the heel meets the foot is a marker (contrasting color yarn.) I never write anything down so markers are my best hope of making a second sock that’s even close to the same size as the first. <big grin>

Opal Brasil Socks Done!

Remember the socks I started back in February? Here they are, all done:





Yarn: Opal Brasil
Pattern: My own generic toe up pattern with a chevron patterned cuff. The chevron pattern was adapted from a stitch in Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch.

This was my first time knitting socks on two circular needles and I am totally sold. I did the toes on double points (I knit my socks from the toe up) but as soon as I had finished the increases I switched to the circular needles. I bought a new size 2 Addi Turbo at Maryland Sheep and Wool – boy are they expensive. But they’re my favorite kind of needle so I just try not to think about it too hard.

I’ve already started my next pair of socks (I always have at least one on the needles) in some Spirit Trail sock yarn I got at Maryland. It’s yummy!

It's The Little Things

What is this, you ask? And why would anyone bother knitting it? Well, the answer is – it’s a water bottle cozy. I work at Girl Scout day camp during the summer. It gets very hot and water bottles are an absolutely necessity. The woman I work with always complains (good naturedly) that my water bottle sweats all over her paperwork. I had some leftover Fixation (stretchy sock yarn) in my stash so I decided to knit a water bottle cozy. I played around with different methods of knitting a circle (EZ’s pi method, Yarn Harlot’s multiple of 5 method) but I had a hard time getting it to lie flat. Don’t ask me how many times I ripped it out and re-did it but, hey, it gave me something to do during the Survivor finale. I probably should have made it a little taller but I finished a ball of yarn and was too lazy to start another. I’ll let you know after camp how it works. I know you’ll all be waiting with bated breath. <very big grin>

The Process Knitter

I am definitely a process knitter. Which is a good thing, since I start a lot more projects than I actually finish. <grin> I have one ongoing project that will take me years to knit, and I’m enjoying every minute of it. It’s my Sock Yarn Afghan. I started it in the summer of 2004. I needed an interesting project to work on during a week long family reunion. I knit a lot of socks, and I’ve always wondered what to do with the little bit of yarn that’s left over. When my daughter was younger I used them to make Barbie clothes, but those days have now passed by. Since most socks I knit use hand dyed or self-patterning yarns they don’t readily lend themselves to being used together. My friend Joan knit an afghan using mitered squares (which I love) but what made it really special was that each block was bordered in black, which really tied it all together and kept it from having that patchwork look.


I made a full size afghan which turned out really well.


So I decided to start another one, using sock yarn.

As you can see, after almost two years it still isn’t all that big (that's a 12 inch ruler at the top), but I’ve gotten hours of entertainment from it already. I love finishing a square and getting out all of the colors to decide what to use next. I love remembering the original pairs of socks. It makes me feel like a pioneer woman making a quilt out of scraps of her kids’ outgrown clothes. And now my friends bring me their leftovers too, so I can look at squares and say, “My friend Joan gave me that yarn.” Or my friend Rosie, or my friend LynnM who mailed me hers from Minnesota, or my friend Cindy who brought me a bag at Maryland Sheep & Wool last weekend. It’s like a knitting scrapbook. If I ever do finish it I think I’ll have to immediately start a new one. But I don’t need to worry about that for quite a while. <grin>

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2006

Another year, another great sheep and wool festival. For me, every year it becomes less about the buying and more about enjoying the chance to see friends I only get to see once a year. By 11 AM (it opened at 9) the vendor areas were too crowded for me. A bunch of my knitting buddies set up camp near the entrance in what little shade we could find.

Here we are:


Knitting buddies


More buddies


Buddy Meta working hard on replacing the yarn that Katrina took away.




And here’s Cindy Park in her Spring Forward Cardigan. It’s absolutely gorgeous!

It’s amazing how much shopping I got done in less than two hours. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t stay in the vendor area any longer.


Books and patterns:
Dyeing to Knit (autographed by the author at the fair) by Elaine Eskesen of Pine Tree Yarns

Big Girl Knits by Jilian Moreno & Amy Singer of knitty.com

Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot)

Cable Needle Freedom by Carole Wulster of Knitting Software Inc.

Sam the Ram & Sue the Ewe by Rita O’Connell of Earth Heart Designs

Stradivarius Stole & Mobius Capelet by Candace Eisner Strick of Strickwear (impulse bought while standing in line at The Mannings)



Yarn:
Kit for Blueberry Jam cardigan from Shelridge Farms (not pictured - they’re mailing it to me so I could substitute Mulberry for Spanish Moss)

Sock yarn from Spirit Trail

1. Fuchsia/blue/purple colorway


2. Shades of blue/purple colorway

Sock yarn from Socks That Rock

1. Two Can Rock


2. Hearthstone


3. Lapis

Opal sock yarn, colorway Traumfanger (Dreamcatcher) - pink/blue/yellow

Trekking XXL sock yarn - bright primaries/natural

Fixation sock yarn – shades of purple

Etc.
Size 2 24 inch Addi Turbo

Spirit Trail bumper sticker

Now I'm trying to finish my socks-in-progress so I can start some with my new yarn. I think the Spirit Trail pink and blue will be first in the queue....

Its All Done!

FLAK facts: Elann Peruvian Collection Highland Wool, color Alpine Violet



My FLAK is done! I finished it Sunday night, then washed and blocked it. Our cat Ravenclaw enjoyed the blocking process immensely. <grin>



Look for me wearing it this weekend at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. The forecast is currently calling for low 70’s so hopefully I won’t be dying of heat prostration (like the year it was in the 90’s.) I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday. I can’t wait! Now that I’m done my FLAK it’s the perfect time to buy some new projects. I have Sam the Ram and Sue the Ewe patterns on hold already. I figured they’d be good summer knitting. Not that there’s really such a thing as a bad knitting project…

See you at the Festival!

FLAK Body Done

Even though it felt like it took forever, I’ve finally finished my FLAK body. I didn’t want much of a bottom edging, so I just did about an inch of K1, P1 ribbing. My filler stitch was a modified K1, P1 so I thought that would look good. I decreased at the bottom of each cable and ended with a cable row in order to avoid the dreaded “cable splay.”






BTW, let me take this opportunity to say how much I like Janet’s new book Aran Sweater Design. It looks stunning and is just chock full of useful information, whether you’re brand new to Arans or you’ve been cabling since you could hold a needle.

Anyway, back to my FLAK… I think I’m going to do the trim next, and then finish up my sleeves. They’re almost done, but they definitely need a few more inches. I think I’ll do the same ribbing as I did on the body. My goal is to finish by Maryland Sheep and Wool, which looks just about doable. Of course if I do get it done that should guarantee us 90 degree weather. I may die of heat stroke, but I’ll be wearing it anyway. <very big grin>

Bingo!

Never doubt the power of bingo trolls! My daughter’s school has a basket bingo fundraiser every year. Last year I had terrible luck – I didn’t win so much as a door prize. I decided that drastic measures were necessary, so I found some trolls at the local thrift shop. I decided that what my trolls really needed was some hand knit clothes. (Who doesn’t?) Mama troll is wearing a lovely dress knit with Fixation, the stretchy sock yarn, a scarf made out of some leftover Boa, and a felted backpack made from Parfait Swirls. The boy is wearing overalls made from some cotton sock yarn (no label.) I had to sew him into it. The little girl is wearing a dress made from Regia Crazy – which nearly drove me crazy trying to find the color repeat in order to make matching socks. Here they are in all their troll glory:





And here’s the basket I won during the last game of the night:

Back to FLAK

After my Knitting Olympics disaster (see below) I’ve returned to my FLAK sweater. The back and front are done and now I’m working away on the left sleeve.


Front view


Back view

I learned a valuable lesson from the disaster and I’m only knitting one sleeve at a time. At least that way if it doesn’t turn out right I only have to rip out one. I’m also trying this one on more frequently. I’m only decreasing every 8th row, which seems to be working so far. I’m planning to switch to every 4th row when I get closer to the cuff. My filler stitch has a 4 row repeat so it’s easier for me to remember the decreases if I always do them on the same row of the pattern. I had a little trouble switching from knitting the top of the sleeve flat to knitting in the round. I have to remind myself whether I’m on a “knit” row (right side) or a “purl” row (wrong side.) I’m using Joan Schrouder’s decrease technique. She has you decrease alongside the cable band instead of on the underside of the sleeve (the little bits of contrasting yarn mark the decreases.) I had never seen this before. It looks pretty neat.


Overhead view

Unfortunately my sweater isn’t particularly photogenic right now. Use your imagination. *grin*

Long time no post

Well, the Knitting Olympics came along and I knit like a fiend. Here’s what my sweater looked like after about a week:



I didn’t try it on until both sleeves were almost done, which was several days too late. Even though I actually followed the pattern to the letter (which I never, ever do) the sleeves are too tight. The body doesn’t seem big enough either, even though it should have plenty of ease. I suspect that my gauge might have gotten tighter since I was trying to knit for a deadline. It’s been on time out since just before the closing ceremonies. At some point I plan to get it out and see if I can figure out what went wrong. Right now the disappointment is just too fresh. *smile*

FLAK Front, First Half

Here’s the front of my FLAK so far:



I’m making a v-neck cardigan and doing both fronts at the same time. It’s the only way I’ll get them identical. <smile> I haven’t finished the fronts, but I’m getting ready to put my FLAK on hold for a couple of weeks in order to join in the Knitting Olympics insanity. <even bigger smile>

Knitting Olympics, Take 2

I came to the decision that the project I had chosen just wasn’t working out for me. I couldn’t get gauge no matter what needle I used and when I thought about it really hard I realized that I don’t really wear vests anyway. If I’m that cold I’ll put on a sweater. I decided that what I really needed was another cardigan. Now I think I’m mildly insane wildly optimistic to think I can finish a cardigan in two weeks, but at least I picked a relatively easy one. Here it is:



It’s the V-Neck, Neck Down Cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple. It’s done in one piece, so the only finishing at the end is the buttonband. The yarn is a wool/mohair mix from Puckerbrush Farms that I got at nirvana the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Don’t ask me which year. <smile>

Wish me luck!

Sock Tips

I just started my first pair of socks using two circular needles. The yarn is Opal Brasil.



Usually I use bamboo double points, but I found that they were an accident waiting to happen when I carried my knitting in my purse. <smile> When I first started with the two circs, I had a lot of trouble with laddering where the two needles met. Basically the first stitch was way too loose. I posed the question to my knitting buddies and here are some great tips they passed on to me:

• As you go to start using a new needle, pull the one you just finished using over to the left side so that the last stitch of the old needle is right next to the first stitch on the new needle.


• Make sure to pull the first and second stitches of the new needle a little tighter than you normally would.

These did the trick for me – hope they help you too!

Happy Groundhog Day!

It’s only right that I celebrate, given that Groundhog Day is my favorite movie. I think the concept of getting to do your life over and over until you get it right appeals to me. <smile> At least in knitting I can do that. It does seem like lately I’ve been spending more time ripping than knitting, that’s for sure.

Here’s a scarf I finished last week (after 3 attempts):



The pattern I sort of followed is similar to the one here. I used Charisma by Manukau Wools, colorway rainbow. I haven’t been able to wear it much. We’re having the weirdest non-winter here in the Mid Atlantic. Right now it’s 54° F. Personally, I’m ready for a snow day.

FLAK Part 4 - The Back

I’ve finished part 4 of the FLAK KAL – shoulder saddles (part 3) connected together with the upper back. Here it is:



I used Janet’s cables, but in order to make the math work I had to add two extra 2-stitch cables and take out the mini honeycombs. I must have pretty narrow shoulders because I didn’t have to use any of my filler stitch.

I have to say that there was another benefit to knitting all of those swatches. (I knit the hundred stitch swatch 3 times and I didn’t add any extra cables.) By the time I got to the back I had the cables memorized and didn’t need to look at the charts any more. I still use my trusty row counter. Sure I can figure out what row I’m on, but with a life filled with interruptions it’s so much easier to be able to pick it up and know where I am. I’m still faithfully checking my crosses at the end of every knit row. It’s so much less painful to rip out only one row.

Let the Olympics Begin!

I’ve chosen my event for the Knitting Olympics. I’m planning to do the Foothill Vest by Mountain Colors, colorway Lupine. It doesn’t look like an especially difficult pattern, but the hard part for me will be completing anything in two weeks.

Here’s the pattern and yarn:



And here it is again with my ever helpful knitting companion Ravenclaw.



Yes, the kids were going through a major Harry Potter phase when we got him. His sister’s name is Minerva, as in Professor Minerva McGonagall. I’m sure she’ll be making an appearance here soon. The cat that is - not the Harry Potter character.

Bearfeet complete!

I just finished a pair of socks in Mountain Colors Bearfoot, color Wildflower. I love this yarn! These are definitely the softest socks I’ve ever worn.

Here they are in progress:



The finished socks:



Now I have to decide what to knit next. I have a couple of things on the needles, but nothing exciting. Plus I’m thinking about Stephanie’s Knitting Olympics. But that’s weeks away so I need something now! Suggestions?

Saddles are done!

Here are my saddles:



I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment in the FLAK KAL!

Decisions Decisions

I did another swatch with my new yarn colors. Since it’s the same yarn I didn’t do the full 100 stitch swatch again. I did one repetition of each cable plus 10 of my filler stitch (52 stitches total.) Here it is:



Why are cats so fascinated by knitting? Here’s Louie giving my new swatch a “cat” scan (sorry, I couldn’t resist that one!):



I love the fuchsia, but I'm going to use the violet for this sweater. It just shows the cables better. I have no doubt that I'll use the fuchsia in the future though. It's absolutely gorgeous!

Now on to those saddles.... :-)

FLAK Cable Swatch

Here’s my cable swatch with the Light Grey Heather Peruvian Wool I bought originally from Elann:



I kept Janet’s cables but I mirrored the wave cables and tried the staghorn cable both ways. I used a different filler stitch since moss stitch biased badly for me, even after washing and blocking (see earlier post.)

I decided I really wasn’t a grey sweater person, so I ordered Alpine Violet and Summer Fuchsia:



I love Elann! I ordered the yarn Monday and it arrived today (Friday.) I’m going to swatch both colors and see which I like better.

FLAK Part 1: the Filler Stitch Swatch

Here’s my first swatch from the Follow the Leader Aran Knit (FLAK) KAL. This is a selection of possible filler stitches.

Before washing:



And after washing and a light blocking:

The stitches I used were (bottom to top):
Moss stitch
Broken rib
Seed stitch
Pattern 4.19 from The Harmony Guide to Aran and Fair Isle Knitting
Double moss stitch

As you can see, the moss stitch had a real problem with biasing. The seed stitch was way too wide. The double moss was exactly on gauge and the broken rib and pattern 4.19 were very close. So far my favorite is Pattern 4.19. If I end up using it I will have to find out if it has an actual name.

Want to join the KAL? More information is here. (Thanks Cindy for the cool button on my sidebar - and the idiot-proof directions for getting it there!)