Out With The Old

I need structure when in an overwhelming situation. So I often make arbitrary limits just to bring some order and control to the chaos. Therefore it seemed only natural for me to create some kind of absurd rule for MDSW 2008 purchases: I couldn't buy yarn from any vendor from which I had bought yarn in 2007 that was still in my stash.

So no Brooks Farm. No Tess. But I was able to buy from The Fibre Company due to these quick knits just before we left ...

Pattern: Sideways Ribbed Cap by Cathy Campbell
Yarn: Terra from The Fibre Company (sunflower and light indigo)
Needles: US 7s
Notes: Thank you Liz for your inspiration! This hat is an end of the year present for another of R's teachers. We thought the lightest yellow of the sunflower was reminiscent of sunshine and the indigo evoked a clear blue sky. Perfect for our lovely outdoorsy preschool teacher.


It took me a while to find buttons that would work until The Yarn Lounge got some Danforth Pewter's buttons. I didn't realize until I got home that I've actually been in their store in Middlebury, VT. The business is wonderful and they are right near the Vermont Organic Fiber Company. Sounds like a fun day of shopping next time I'm up in the area!

Terra is 60% Merino, 20% Baby Alpaca, and 20% Silk. That equals 100% delicious. And at 100 yards a skein, these are better than some of the skimpy yardage skeins that I saw this year at MDSW.


Pattern: Ruffles Scarf by Amanda Blair Brown from Scarf Style
Yarn: Terra (Sunflower) from The Fibre Co.
Needles: US 7s
Notes: I had a skein (and a bit more) leftover from the hat, so I tried a Ruffles Scarf. These short rows were actually a lot of fun to knit. I didn't have enough for a long scarf, but it's just enough for R!

And now may I present my new Fibre Company yarn ...

Organik

Limited Edition Longhorn

MDSW Fun and Some Syncopation

Phew! What a weekend! It was such tremendous fun hanging out with Liz on Saturday -- and extra special fun meeting her Montco Sit and Knit friends! I keep thinking about how much fun it would be to take a trip up to Philly just to hang out and knit with these people.

The BackBou did a great job of just taking the kids away to look at dogs and sheep and funnel cake while I was browsing stalls with Liz and standing for an hour in the Socks That Rock line.


But now I have my first skeins of STR! There are some rockin' BSJs are in my future ...

I won't bore everyone with a stash enhancement report (I did well), instead I'll show you the great picture from the day ...


Aileen, Sally, Lolly, Isel, Liz, a mystery guest, and Jenna. As you can see from the "Rabbits" sign, we were at the packed Ravelry meet-up.

And now for a FO!



Pattern: Syncopated Caps by Kate Gilbert, Interweave Knits Summer 2007
Yarn: Plain and Fancy Sheep and Wool Co
Needles: US 4s
Notes: No pattern mods even though I thought I would need to add some length. However, I knit the women's size and it fit me perfectly. The yarn, as I've said before, is a dream. Knit with it. Love it.



I had bought the yarn so that R and I would have matching caps, but she really, really wants this to be an end-of-the-year present for one of her teachers. I can't say no since I love her almost as much as R does.

Four Skeins of Malabrigo

Remember last fall when I ducked out of the Second Wave Clapotis KAL? Well, I ended up with four yummy skeins of Malbrigo Stone Crop in the stash. One became a Coronet. One a Koolhaas. One skein was sent to China in a care package for my good friend who is working in Beijing trying to get ready for the Olympics.*

That leaves one skein left. No problem. Baby hats! With my last cozy skein in the stash, two boyish hats were a breeze.



Pattern: Earflap Hat from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas
Yarn: Malabrigo Stone Blue
Needles: US 7s
Notes: Easy, fast and just the best hat. I made the larger size so he can wear it (I hope) for a number of years.

I love this book. If you are a beginning knitter, the directions are precise and sufficient. If you are an expert, you'll love how beautifully simple the designs are -- not too fussy but easy to embellish if you wish.



Pattern: improvised
Yarn: Malabrigo Stone Blue
Needles: US7s
Notes: This hat is for a new cousin in Minnesota. It's a simple 2x2 rib that decreased by letting the ribs collapse into each other to become 1x1 at the top. It won't fit him for long, but that's fine. I have a sweater planned for the fall ...


I've always had a problem with pompoms, but I followed the excellent directions in Knitting For Baby and did a fine job on this one!

*An interesting side note: The Chinese government has censored XRK. My friend cannot read our blog. Huh? I couldn't recall any of us saying anything particularly revolutionary or anti-communist. But since we've been censored anyway, please take a moment to read this. Then, if you are so moved, click here and take action.

There. Now we can be censored!

Still Winter Here

Oh, Ann, you and your daffodils and your new gardening blog tease me. 15 years in the South have totally screwed up my seasonal clock. I expect Spring to come now, but here in Philadelphia, we are still definitely in hat season, and will be for several more weeks to come. Knowing that, I made myself a new hat.

When I was in Richmond in January, I spotted Stewart wearing this hat, the Sideways Ribbed Cap, a pattern from the folks at the Vermont Fiber Company. Hers was in a cute two-color combination, and while beanie-type caps are usually not flattering on me and my very oval face, I thought that the horizontal ribs would add just enough volume to flatter. I immediately thought of the mill-end skeins of Fibre Company Terra in the stash, the absolute steal of the day at MDSW last Spring. Remember how I almost destroyed their booth while pawing through baskets of their incredibly gorgeous, incredibly expensive yarns for sale dirt cheap, looking for just the right color combination? Neither skein was a full 50g, and I knew I'd need to combine the two to make something. Here was the perfect pattern!

Now I have serious yarn lust for this yarn. It is really spendy, but a sweater of this yarn would be amazing. The colors of this yarn are just incredible, and while I was concerned that it might have just enough hairs to make it itchy against my forehead, this thing is soft and warm and wonderfully cozy. It might just be worth the price.

* sorry, trying to ping*

Warming Up

It's taken me a bit of time (over a week) to get around to posting after our family trip up to see The BackBou's folks in the Mad River Valley. I love Vermont in the winter with the cold temperatures and deep snow (one morning I was up snowshoeing before 7am and it was -1 Fahrenheit!). This state was made for handknit socks. I can only handle it for so long however. I was ready to get home to my blooms in the garden and lighter jackets.

Just before our trip, I realized that I had no really warm hat for R. I dipped into my leftover bin and found tons of O-Wool Classic. Here's what I came up with (sorry the pictures of the hat really aren't very good) ...


Pattern: My own
Yarn: O-Wool Classic
Needles: US 7s
Notes: I made it way too big, tore it out, and made it just a bit too big. When we got home, I washed it and dried it. It shrunk up just perfectly and now it fits and it really, really warm.



These pictures aren't very good, you can't really see the pink stripe in the middle of the green nor the blue ear flaps. I'll try to get a better picture when the temps drop again this week.

It was fun to just put some yarn on the needles without any earthly idea about how it might turn out. Knitting without a pattern is so freeing sometimes. (And for this, I can thank Elizabeth Zimmerman. Reading The Opinionated Knitter has set me free.)

We are very busy these days making calls and sending off emails in order to finalize reservations and rail passes for our June trip to Norway. I've had to come to terms with the fact that this will in no way be a yarn vacation. There is really no wiggle room in our budget or in our luggage since we'll be carting everything on our backs from ferry to train. But maybe I'll be able to pick up some sock yarn or a cool pattern.

Speaking of socks ...

I finished Socks for Veronik on the ride up to Vermont (somewhere around the Merritt Parkway).


Pattern: Socks for Veronik by Mona Schmidt
Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks 100% superwash Merino
Needles: US 1s
Notes: Loved the pattern. Loved the yarn. I've washed and worn these 4 times in the past 2 weeks. I would wear them everyday if I could. I will most certainly buy more of this yarn at MDSW.

And now, back to travel plans and enjoying the gorgeous 70 degree day ...

So Long, Manos!

I have managed to knit up just about all six skeins of Manos that had long lingered in my stash. The final FOs were more successful than the first few.

The Purl Scarf (Ravelry link)

I made this with one skein of Manos and one skein of Douceur et Soie, another longtime languishee in the stash. At first, I questioned even using the Douceur, as they were very similar in color, but the addition of the Douceur added a very subtle sheen to the Manos, as well as a lovely halo. That, and I had no idea what I would do with this ball of yarn, having had it now for four years.

The One-Day Beret

I really did need a warm winter hat. I tried Thorpe, and we all agree that while it might be an excellent hat for a Mongolian, it was not so good on me. I then made Gretel. The slouchy Gretel. And it was wwaaaaaaayyyyy slouchy, as in rastafarian slouchy. Rather than simply rip it back to a more normal size, though, I decided to felt it a bit. This the point that my super-slouchy beret turned into a gigantic head cozy. The felting process caused the ribbing in the brim to lose all elasticity, and well, it was a mess. It was impossible to frog (thank you, felting), so I threw it out. I'm sorry I did not take a photo of it, since all our loyal blog readers truly deserved a picture of this monstrosity, but I just pitched it. Sorry, Gretel, maybe next time.

So I needed to attempt a third hat, and since I really do admire Kirsten's work, and after the personal failure of the Thorpe Hat, I wanted to give another one of her patterns a try. The One Day Beret is a top-down beret recipe, and it is totally customizable to any yarn or gauge. Once you get past those first few rounds, it is really simple and quick knitting. My bind-off ended up being a little loose, so I threaded some elastic in the brim and snugged this up nicely. A smashing success!

Chevalier Mittens

I fell madly in love with Tikru's mittens when I first saw Grace's a few months back. Mine still need a good blocking, but since I've been wearing them every day, I've been unwilling to soak them and wait days for them to dry. They are a little too long than I'd like, but they do keep out the chill on cold mornings. I also made a huge error by knitting these on Addi Lace needles. Pointy needle + single ply yarn + cabling without a cable needle = lots of splitting and poking of the fingers. I could have easily gone upstairs and gotten a blunter needle, but I was lazy. Thus, I deserve the finger poking.

So, instead of making a whole sweater out of this yarn, as was my original intent, I made a ton of warm winter accessories, for me, for Rosebud, and for charity.

What yarns can you set free?

Fear Not!

Fear not fellow knitters, I only had to endure a few short hours with no knitting on the needles. (Breathe deeply Madge, I survived! Never again, never again ...)

So here are some FOs as yet unposted.




Pattern: Hiiumaa Socks from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Trekking pro natura (75% New Wool, 25% bamboo) in 1501 (white) and 1503 (brown)
Needles: US 1s
Notes: It's easier to tote around socks when you are only working from 1 skein of yarn! Well, that was the only excuse I could come up with for not knitting these quickly. They were the BackBou's Xmas present which I am happy to report he loves. One minor complaint is that they slouch a bit much for him (I like the slouch myself). Maybe some ribbing changes and calf shaping would have helped with that.


Pattern: Maine Morning Mitts from The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes
Yarn: Valknitz (55% mohair, 45% wool)
Needles: US 5s
Notes: Quick and easy. When I'm not wearing these, the BackBou is. I'm planning on making some for the girls as well. I get compliments on these constantly. The yarn is really beautiful and warm. Our new Sunday activity is ice skating and these keep me warm while still allowing me to lace up the skates.


Pattern: Syncopated Caps from Interweave Knits (Summer 2007) by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co., natural white and magenta variegated
Needles: US 2s
Notes: I intended this to be for myself, but I noticed early on that my gauge was (duh) incredibly different in the colorwork and in the round. So I didn't stop (because that would have been prudent and sensible) but thought, "oh hecko, it's sure to fit someone ..." And so it does. R now has a new hat! This pattern rocks -- I loved knitting it and could barely put it down.



I am going to the yarn store today to buy another colorway to go with my remaining white so that I can have one as well! What can I say about this yarn other than every knitter should have some in the stash or on the needles.

And I will encourage, by force if necessary, Liz and Mo to pick some up when we see each other this Sunday. That's right! An XRK summit in Richmond! Huzzah!

Setting the Manos Free

I've had this sweater's worth of Manos in my stash for a couple of years.

A lustrous turquoise, I got it on sale during our lean years in Virginia, and it felt like an incredible indulgence at the time. I wound some, swatched some, even started to make a sweater with it, but it never got made into anything. I diligently considered tons of sweaters, and spent endless hours surfing Ravelry to match the right project with this yarn.

Until I finally figured out what the problem was. I do not want a sweater out of Manos. I just don't. I also really love turquoise, but I do not want a turquoise sweater. I just don't. But turquoise is a flattering color for me, especially near my face, so I decided to wantonly break into my sweater's worth of Manos, and make myself a warm winter hat to match my down jacket.

I started with the the Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat, and it was too small, despite multiple modifications to account for my yarn's different gauge. So I slapped on a huge pom pom and gave it to Rosebud, who also needed a warm winter hat.



This week's spring-like weather does not have me fooled. I know I have many more freezing mornings at the bus stop ahead of me, so I tried again, this time, making Kirsten's Thorpe hat, with some contrasting pink Nature Wool Chunky from the stash.


This hat fit, but it definitely didn't flatter. It took me a day or two to realize that through. And in the meantime, I had begun matching mittens.

The color combo stopped working for me altogether, so the hat and mittens are headed for Dulaan. Yay for serendipitious charity knits!

But I am undaunted. I'll start hat #3 tonight.

2007 Roundup

Life here at Chez Ann has finally calmed down. Christmas decorations are down and packed away (when they go up the house feels cozy, by New Year's Eve it feels like I can barely turn around it's so crowded in here). I was able to visit with many, many friends (including my film friends from NYC -- check out Adrian's website for viewing suggestions) and family.

We travelled in the midst of it all up to Johns Hopkins for a 2nd opinion (daughter N was born with a foot birth defect and surgery was recently suggested) where we received our best present of the season -- a "no surgery necessary" opinion from the chief pediatric orthopedist. Hurray!

So medical issues have receded, travel is over for a while, and the entertaining has subsided. Time to post all those knits I gifted as presents!

Pattern: Bright Stripes by Kristin Nicholas from Scarf Style
Yarn: Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Company (colors: Natural White and Magenta Variegated)
Notes: This is the first time I have used this yarn and it now is my absolute favorite 100% Wool yarn. I have always balked at the price, but you get a ton of yardage and the colorways are just incredible. Wouldn't a BSJ in this yarn be delicious? I go mine here but please my knitting friends, do yourself a favor and knit with this yarn in 2008! They don't seem to have a website, but you can contact Ken and Grayce here. This scarf was a present for the girl I mentor at a local school (I did get her a book also, it's not just about fiber mission work ...).

*Notice something different under that hat?

Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts
Yarn: Malabrigo (Stone Blue)
Notes: What can I say? Jared is a genius. The hat fits like a dream. The yarn is soft and warm and the colors are stunning. It was hard for me to hand this over to my MIL. But I did. I must make one for myself in January! I found the cable needle burdensome at first, but developed a rhythm quickly and didn't mind it at all after a while. The crown decreasing is really beautiful. If you click on this link and scroll down a bit, you can see how great it looks in a green -- nice work Cate!

Pattern: Basket Weave Scarf by Ann Budd from Interweave Knits
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (Licorice)
Notes: I really treated myself to some good yarn for holiday knitting, didn't I? Yup, another yummy yarn. The darkness of the color made this hard to photograph well (despite the excellent model), but it really does look nice up close and feels light yet warm around the neck. This was gifted to my FIL -- my in-laws received the handknits along with some Norway themed goodies in honor of our upcoming trip to Norway together in June. Any yarn related travel suggestions for Norway? Lay them on me!

I am currently working on the 2nd sock for the BackBou (the first wasn't even cast on until Christmas Eve -- he is very understanding and patient). I hope to post a completed pair soon!

*Yup, that is short hair sticking out from Koolhaas -- I was able to donate 13 inches of hair to Locks of Love right before Christmas!

MIA

I have been MIA in the knit world lately. No Ravelry, no blogging, and today was my first knitting group in almost a month. Unfortunate yet this is just what has to happen in order to keep the holidays sane for me. (I will be around much more in January!)

Along with the rest of the family, I've been purging the home of unused or unwanted toys (Diversity Thrift here we come!), cleaning in preparation for our tree and Christmas decorating this weekend, shopping for gifts, and enjoying the smaller holidays (St. Nicholas Day, Santa Lucia Day, Winter Soltice) that happen in December. And of course I am busy with holiday knitting!

Here are a few things so far ...




Pattern: Dashing by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted, Cafe au Lait
Needles: US 7s
Notes: Great pattern. Easy. Fast. For my older brother. They are already in the mail. I loved knitting these! Isn't this yarn a great colorway?



Pattern: Coronet by Andrea Virgiel
Yarn: Malabrigo, Stone Blue
Needles: US 7s
Notes: Great yarn. Great pattern. I had the band knit for quite a while but had put it down for more than a month. Picked it up and finished it in a day. It was meant for my MIL, but then a neighbor had surgery that left her without any hair and I couldn't think of anything better than having Malabrigo warming her head. My MIL is now getting Koolhaas (I love the pattern and should be done soon!).


Back to my knitting and enjoying the unusually warm weather with a picnic in the park!

When Mom's a Knitter...

...you have conversations like this over the breakfast

Mom: It's going to be cold today. Wear that stripey sweater today.
Daughter: What stripey sweater?
Mom: They one I made you last year.
Daughter: Oh, you mean my Noro sweater?


...you get a new hat just in time for the first snow of the winter


Pattern: the ubiquitous We Call Them Pirates
Yarn & Needles: Cascade 220 (red), Plymouth Encore (black), Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (lining) from (you guessed it!) the stash, US3 needles
Mods: To size down the hat, I knitted at a tighter gauge (about 7 spi) and only did two repeats of the skull motif.

I made a poor choice when I decided not to decrease in the lining. I thought the difference in the weight of the yarns (worsted vs. fingering) would make up for it, and I didn't want the lining to pucker. Well, it flares, dammit! It flares! I did EZ's sewn bind off for the lining for stretch, and then meticulously sewed it down beautifully. I was not about to pick it all out and redo it, so I threaded some elastic in the brim, and it snugged things nicely.

Notes: This was my first colorwork project ever, and it's some pretty craptacular knitting. However, this was knitted as a more of a learning and practice piece, so my expectations were pretty low. Plus, Pepe desperately needed a new hat. And despite some puckering and lack of crispness in the colorwork, Pepe has gotten tons of compliments on it, and I have managed to impress many non-knitters.

I am working on picking comfortably, and have some work to do keeping my floats even. Despite that, though, it was a relatively quick project, knitting up in a just a few afternoons.

Practicality's Triumph

When I was a kid, I had to catch the bus to Catholic school at a truly ungodly (sorry) hour of 7 am. Those miserable mornings on the corner came with with freezing knees (we wore knee socks, tights not allowed), and burning ears because I would not wear a hat. I was too cool to wear hat. All hats looked stupid on me, I said. And hats would crush the fluffy perm. We were a skiing family, and I didn't even wear hats on the slopes, for fear my hair would look flattened and staticky in the ski lodge. You know, like everyone else's hair in a ski lodge. I was too vain to be practical, too young and dumb to realize that no one was looking at me or my hair. Or that my perm sucked, and could use a little flattening. Like most adolescents, I feared the judgment of others, which, was usually arbitrary and often cruel.

While I fight the designation of being grown-up, I have evolved past this painfully stupid and self-conscious stage. Now with a child in elementary school, I am anticipating many cold mornings on the corner, waiting for the school bus. And being all grown up, practicality and warmth trumps vanity, but being a knitter means that you can have warm ears and still be darn cute, too. Inspired by fellow funky hat Mom Alison, I present my two latest Single Skein Septemer FOs:


Pattern: le Slouch by Wendy Bernard link to pdf
Yarn and Needles: Artful Yarns Jazz, US 10.5 (ribbing on US 9)
Mods: I chose the stockinette version, mainly because I wanted to crank this sucker out, and seed stitch slows me down.

And for the inevitable ponytail mornings:

Pattern: Calorimetry by Kathryn Schoendorf
Yarn and Needles: Noro Big Kureyon, US 9
Pattern Mods: Using a bulky yarn, I cast on 80 stitches, and only did the short row repeat 10 times. I actually knit this headband multiple times to get it just right, and each time, it only look about two hours to make. And yes, that is my yarn tail hanging down. I have not yet sewed on a button, so I tied it shut.

I often bristle at being a grown-up, but if being grown-up means I have cute hats and warm ears at the bus stop, then that's a good thing. It means that I no longer care what anyone else thinks of me, my hair or my hats, which is even better. Best, it means that no one else cares either, and if they do, well, then they are just so immature!

Le Beret de Rosebud

The berets -- they are everywhere! I love to wear a woolen beret in the winter, and have been wanting to knit one for myself after seeing Mo's cool tweedy one. But since I've been craving the FO, I decided to knit one for my Rosebud first, especially after seeing this one.



Pattern: Taos Beret

Yarn: Louisa Harding Kimono Angora 06 (from stash!)

Mods: I modified this pattern quite a bit -- I wanted a slouchier, poufy-er beret, so I did a second increase round (K4 M1) to eventually increase to 150 stitches total). I knitted straight for 3.5", and then sped up the decrease rounds because I was running out of yarn. I knitted the first 4 decrease rounds as called for in the pattern with a plain round between each, but then I simply knit each round as a decrease round until I got to 6 stitches total. The top of the beret would have been flatter had I spaced the decreases as called for, but I really like those sharp pleats at the top. I think it gives the beret a bit of structure.



I also added a little milky pearl button on the top, for a little flair.

One thing about the yarn: it is not stretchy at all. It is soft, but it has absolutely no stretch. I plan to thread a bit of elastic in the ribbing a la Grumperina to keep it on her head.