fiddle dee dee

I finished something! I think this is only my 4th FO of 2009, even though one was a sweater.

Pattern: Fiddlehead Mittens by Adrian Bizilia (Hello Yarn), Needles: US Size 3 (Crystal Palace Bamboo, DPN), Yarn: Cascade 220 in Heather Grey and overdyed natural in Lilac, Mussel Shell Blue, Tuquoise, Emerald Green and Spring Green (I think). Started April 11, 2009, Finished May 9, 2009. Here they are on Ravelry.

little liza jane and a yarn crawl

This is the progress I’ve made on Little Liza Jane, which I’m making for my cousin. Her baby is due a couple of weeks before mine. I’m making the 6 mos. size for her. It will have to be worn over other clothes, since it will be cold out when her baby is the right size to wear it. I made kind of an ironic discovery, which is that the Cotlin feels a lot (to me) like Debbie Bliss’ Cathay yarn, although obviously without the slipperiness of the silk and rayon that’s in the Cathay. What’s ironic is that I have six skeins of the Cathay in an extremely similar color and another six skeins in orange.  I guess that just means I could make more dresses .

knit a hat, a work in progress

When I first saw this hat on a blog somewhere’s, I had to have it. It was a blue one and I loved it. There are a surprising number of these hats from the Knit a Hat – opskrifter pattern put out by by Ruth Sørensen visible on the web but not on Ravelry. This is probably because she was using them as a teaching tool for her many beautiful Kauni yarn based sweaters and the pattern wasn’t widely available until this past fall. It seems like a pricy purchase at $10.00 US (assuming the conversion rate is the same) but it’s a five hats in one book.

I started mine as soon as I picked up the pattern, but it took me a while to get the right needle size and I spent a really long time on the brim. Then I put it down for a month or two. I picked it up again early last week and here I am.

This is the inside.

pattern errata for a one day one skein wonder hat

I finally fixed the One Day One Skein Wonder Hat and you can download the new version here. I also knit myself another version alternating the cable directions. You have to switch the direction on the cable decrease but otherwise it’s the same. Shall I make a lucky hat now with horseshoe cables to prove that I’m more than one trick pony?

Sorry for my terrible sense of humor.

fiber day!

Fiber day at Veneta’s Downtown Market (the link takes you to the slideshow in case you need more incentive to check out the market during September) takes every Friday afternoon starting at 2:00 p.m. and ending at 6:00 p.m. Look at all that yummy Alpaca! These are shots I grabbed last week with my old camera, which has now been replaced. And now with my AmeriCorps year gone and the project nearly finished, regular knit blogging should resume.

She dyes roving too! Obviously I will miss my old camera. Of course, any half-way decent camera is good during the day.

We had an Olympus Stylus 4.0, which died because of a problem with the sensor and the door. It was sad really, because if the door is open, it works fine. That being said, we messed around with it for a month or two and it finally stopped budging. After some hemming and hawing, my husband and I finally chose the Olympus FE340. It’s a nice camera; 8.0 megapixels with a 5x optical zoom and a sweet little super macro mode. The super macro mode is what won it over for me. We liked the old Olympus, even though it is a bit on the sluggish side. On the other hand, we were used to it and not running around taking action shots.

Here is a photo taken with the super macro mode of some recent knitting I did. It’s the Branching Out Scarf I finished during the Ravelympics. I unfortunately failed to post about the finished project so I will not be receiving a medal. It’s okay though; I love this soft alpaca silk (Blue Sky Alpacas) and the scarf is reward enough.

cast-on-itis control

I’m being so good. I’m sticking to the Purl-Buck Sweater when really I want to cast on for the Red Light hat by Brooklyn Tweed. I might as well show you the pictures. I still have to pick four of the colors. I’m leaning towards 1,2, 5 and 6 which are Chestnut, Pesto, Aubergine and Tidepool Heather with the main color being uh uh Chestnut.

I did some the swatch on a pair of size 4 needles for the lining. The lining yarn I’ve chosen is in a light gray alpaca. I think I’m getting 5 1/4 stitches to the inch. The hat is six stitches to the inch, but I can use a different number of stitches for the lining. I think I can work that one out okay!

After writing this post, I started in on the swatch. It doesn’t count as not being good. I haven’t really cast on for the project yet right?

i knit this giant swatch

Someone I know finally knit the One Day One Skein Wonder hat and found a mistake. She helped fix up the numbers, but I have to see what I’m doing sometimes, so I knit myself another hat just to figure it out. I changed the cables and moved some of the decreases up and down, but not the part that requires knitting the numbers. The swatch took about most of a full-day conference. Obviously I couldn’t knit during the networking bits, because you only knitwork at a yarn conference, yarn crawl or s&b. And I did need my hands at lunch. I sewed it at all up and just decided it’s too short. So, I frogged most of it. I knit it again, but for some reason I grabbed the wrong circular needle. I’ve now decided this yarn looks better on a smaller circular needle and well, I don’t know what I’m doing to do now.

mitten mitten who has got the mitten

Raise your right hand if you became infatuated with Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Mitered Mittens (May in the Knitter’s Almanac) after seeing the pair made by Brooklyn Tweed. These will involve installing an after-thought thumb. Should be fun.

Why these mittens were a good idea.

• They are gorgeous in Silk Garden.
• Any excuse to knit Noro is a good excuse.
• Everyone runs out of mittens.
• I always wanted to try a new technique and an after-thought thumb sounds good. I’ve never even done an after-thought pocket.

I didn’t realize that I would need two skeins when I went to Knit Purl over the weekend, so I will have to go back and get another one. Oh dear. Another trip to Knit Purl. I already used up my Christmas gift-certificate. (Gift from husband.)

My other comment is that Jared has recently proved what a bargain the Knitter’s Almanac actually is. Where else can you get a dozen great patterns for $7.95? I only like two patterns (so far) and that’s a still a steal.  It’s a good read on a cold day too.

the italian tubular cast-on

I wonder if I took a hit to the head last year. The reason I’ve never really cast-on for either the Endpaper Mitts or the Anemoi Mittens is that I had trouble with the Italian Tubular Cast-on. I used the tutorial from Fluffbuff, following the instructions to the letter, or so I thought. It’s a no yarn waste version. I tried it on three different sizes of needles and I could not make it loose enough. There wasn’t anything wrong with my floats – it was the cast-on.

I figured it out this weekend. I’d neglected to pull the cast-on end out of the tube.

So hopefully I’ll be able to work on Anemoi and I’ll have warm hands this coming January.

One thing I’d recommend is adding a third round of the main color before adding the second color. This way your first row of floats won’t hang down.

a quick fix

I have to admit, the Yarn Harlot’s An Unoriginal Hat(r) is the perfect solution for getting yourself out of a knitting funk. It’s small enough to be a swatch, so you don’t have to swatch. I used some Nashua Creative Focus Worsted weight wool I’ve had lying around for two years. It’s a bit of a chunky weight, but I had to go up to Size 11 needles (US). I wish I had Canadian sized needles. A set of 7.00mm DPNs would have been perfect. US Size 10 1/2 needles are 6.50mm and US Size 11 needles are 8.0. Is that not insane?I’m glad to have used stash, but I’m seriously tempted to buy some Leticia and make another one. I love the mottled colors in the original hat. I’m thinking I’d do it in Sugarplum. Still, if I do so, I lose on my 2008 stash reduction plan.

(r)=ravelry link

knitting on the oregon coast

The Oregon Coast is gorgeous. There are also beautiful wonderful yarn shops on the Oregon Coast, although somehow we only managed to stop at Nestucca Bay Yarns again. While I was once again denied some of their lovely handpaints, I did get to see a lot of the fall colors for Mountain Colors. I also picked up some more Tahki Cotton Classic there for my miters. I bought every color that they had on sale that I hadn’t gotten previously for a total of two additional colors.

I also purchased some yarn to make my friend Liz a hat.

one down, three to go

Pretend its winter

Originally uploaded by moiraeknitting.
Pattern: Multi-directional Scarf
Pattern Author: Karen Baumer
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden
Yarn Source: Needleworks Unlimited
Needles: Addi Turbo Size 7 circular
Finished: June 6, 2007

One down. Three to go. See ya when I get back from my high school reunion.

multi-madness

I finished my HUGE job application last week and spent the weekend in recovery. I’ve been a bad blogger and left you photoless recently. I bet you’d actually like to see the scarves I’ve been working on. The first two shots are of one scarf that’s made of scrap Noro Kureyon.

juggling scarves

Even when I’m under a deadline, I still make time for knitting. I went off to the Wednesday night meet up and had a good time again. I was a little late because I’d made a stop at Needleworks Unlimited to spend the last amount on my card before I got a $20 gift certificate. So I bought a pile of stuff. It’s not yarn diet breakage.

I purchased a couple of things for my No Sheep for You Pal which I can’t show you. I also made a huge mistake. The basic rule behind the No Sheep for You swap is the entire lack of wool fiber in the yarn and I picked up TOFUtsies, thinking it was mainly soysilk. Ooops. I guess I’ll bring it back. The other skein is pretty nice though and I’ll send it off over the weekend.

I guess I’m a little scarf obsessed at the moment. Not only am I working on two chevron scarves, but I started two Multi-directional scarves as well. One is in Noro Kureyon and the other in Silk Garden. But hey, I learned how to juggle scarves in college.Just not 4 at a time.

This weekend I’ll be working on my slightly overdue Hurricane Sock party project. SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My essays took priority.

zzzzzzz…

I’m supposed to be asleep. That is, it’s 10:32 PM and my plan departs Minneapolis-St. Paul at 6:40 AM so our alarm clock is set for 3:00 AM. I’m packed, but I have essays to write for a job I really really want, so I’ve been playing with Ravelry. It’s loads of fun. I’m an administrator now, so I’m helping to clean up patterns. My application is due next Friday. I am now, once again, the Alumni Class Vice-President, which means I lost the election again. I think that’s pretty funny. What this means is, four years from now, I will be going to reunion, working the tables and helping with whatever needs doing. I’m introducing our cluster (classes of ‘96, ‘97 and ‘98) speaker, David Orr, which is a bit of an intimidating job, but at least his CV makes it easy on me. Hey, did anyone else attend a college with it’s own disco? Oberlin has one in the student center, so I’ll be dancing to early 80’s music on Saturday. At the risk of embarrassing myself completely, I made the last minute suggestion that everyone dress early 80’s to early 80’s. This got published at the very very last minute and so I’ve had to pack an extra long-sleeved button down white shirt and I’ll have to stop for some hair spray, just-in-case.

I started a second Chevron Scarf. I frogged my RPM socks and my Mad-tini socks. I’ve come to realize that I’m just not going to wear socks made with medium-weight STR. I’m not sure how I feel about the color combinations, but I’m enjoying working on the scarf.

falling off the wagon onto the bandwagon

Boy, do I know how to fall off the wagon. My yarn diet had lasted all of what a week? Anyway, there are some serious enablers at the store I work in. All week, I’ve been craving to knit this Chevron scarf from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I first saw it two weeks ago and couldn’t get it out of my head.

I went through tons of possible combos using yarn from my stash, but ignored any yarn that was packed. I brought a ton of yarn with me to work and had almost settled on Black Orchid and Grape Louet as a combo. But it didn’t appeal to me that much. I probably shouldn’t have started the scarf with the Grape; it would have gotten more interesting quickly if I started with the Black Orchid.
I went to work at the shop and ended up getting the book AND the yarn. I nearly had to get the needles too, but was saved by Pam’s swatching needles.

I think not looking in my packed stash was a mistake, because I ended up having a look at it after I bought this yarn and there was some good stuff in there. Anyway, I am enjoying knitting my scarf with these muted colors. I’m planning knitting a second one later using higher contrast between the skeins. I’ll use some of the left-over Envy LL from my Rapid River Socks with some Uptown. I’ll have to see how it knits up.

It’s got the next group of Project Spectrum colors in it too. I seem to always be about two weeks ahead, so no worries.

catching up

This is what I’ve been up to.

These are some squares made from Noro Kureyon inspired by Amy Swenson, the designer behind indiknits‘. The pattern I’d been eyeing was the Saratoga Sunburst, felted handbag. I saw one someone else had made and had to have something like it! It’s slow because I can’t count to 100 and I keep losing the 5th needle. Seriously, I can find my size 0 needles more easily than one 11. What’s with that?

head games

I admit I didn’t get very far with Head Games. I got wrapped up in my CPH Hoodie project and so had barely done anything when my new hat appeared. It’s great. It’s a bit deep for me, (so it’s rolled up so you can’t see the cable properly) but someday I’ll fix it. The yarn is very soft. It’s Classic Elite Yarns Waterlilly and 100% merino. Thanks to Nephele (Liz) for doing such a great job. There’s always Sock Madness and KnitOff with which I could redeem myself.

There was some snow today, so I missed my LYS knitting group. I’m so sad, but my cold is still pretty bad so being at home is probably good for me.

first things first

Okay, it’s the third. And I already posted a blog entry, but it was short, so it doesn’t count.

I got back from visiting friends and family over the holidays yesterday. I also had an interview, which I think went well but I’ll see if that was good enough later.

I saw my Mom, which also allowed me to take some pictures of some knitting gifts I’ve given her over the past few years.

This first sweater is the Norwegian Roses Cardigan and knit in Green Mountain Spinnery wool. I know that some of the colors I used were Ice Blue and Periwinkle. Whenever I see it in person, I always say the same tthing. ‘What crazy person made that?’ I had a close look at it and I think I was fairly consistent about keeping one color in front of the other on any given pattern. You used to be able to order this pattern individually. It’s not listed that way on their website, but you could always call and ask.

sunday update

I took a picture of a hat I made for my husband in 1997 (after he lost the orginal). It’s chenille of all ridiculous things and made on Size 2 needles. I’m at a loss for fiber for him. The chenille works because it’s knit at a tight gauge and it’s more or less meant to keep heat from escaping his head, although generally it goes on my head when we’re out because I haven’t got a hat made yet for me. In a way it’s the only pattern I ever wrote or adapted. I think I actually measured his head when I did it.

misty chunky ribs and ruffles scarf

That went quickly and that’s one soft yarn! I kept touching it over and over again.

Pattern Name: Misti Chunky Ribs and Ruffles Scarf by Misti International, Inc. and Nancy Kleiber. The pattern came with the yarn.
Yarn: Misti Chunky Baby Alpaca, 108 yards per 100g skein (wierd on Yarndex. com it says 50g)
Fiber Content: 100% Peruvian Alpaca
Color: Aquamarine (#3317)
Yarn Source: Knitter’s Palette
Finished Size: ~ 4″ x 53″
Project Price: $13.80
Time for completion: Less than Season 1 of Battlestar Gallatica, not including the two hour mini-series. I’m guessing 6-8 hours. I started last night after Episode 4 and finished this afternoon during some of the DVD extras.
Needles: Size 13 / 9.0 mm by Aero
Notes: The pattern says to stop when you have eight yards to go. I measured it out when I thought I was close and this worked really well. After binding off I had enough of a tail to go almost all the way across the ruffle. I used a long-tail cast-on and wished I had been a little more careful with the yarn there as I probably could have gotten four or five rows out of the two yards I chopped off.

backyard leaves scarf

Here is the first completed Pomatomus sock. I will get to the second sock soon, but I needed a break to work on something a little less challenging.

 

 

The Backyard Leaves pattern isn’t exactly simple, but since I had finished the first piece already (the scarf is knit in two equal length pieces so that your leaves are the same when wearing your scarf) I knew I could manage the pattern. This is definitely one of those cases, where blocking seriously improves the overall look of the finished project. It also significantly increased the length. I probably should have blocked the first piece – I would have shortened the second piece somewhat. However, it will look terrific doubled up and will keep my neck warm in Minnesota. Or my sister’s neck if she wants the scarf.

Backyard Leaves was completed 6/2/2006 on U.S. size 8 Needles (5.0MM) and rendered in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in “Pea Green.” I think it took between 13 and 23 hours. I started it a long long time ago, but finished the second half of it this week in about 8 hours.

As a a reward, I got myself more sock yarn. Am I a glutton for punishment or what? Maybe just a glutton. This is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Green Mtn. Madness. Apparently I got 470 yards for $22.05 (US) and I have little feet. Not bad. It’s 100% Merino.