Stick With Me Here

I owe an apology to all those who generously contributed their time and efforts to the Nepal project, because my ambivalence about this blog left you all unthanked. I regret not having photographed the giant box of handknits that got shipped to Nepal, but I did manage to count all the items. The final tally was 78 hats,13 pairs of socks, 8 pairs of mittens, 6 scarves, 5 sweaters, and 2 blankets. I was touched by the generosity of my friends and by the contributions of strangers who sent the most beautiful hand made items. I heard this week from my friend in Nepal who said that he "passed the knitted things on to two children's homes and a poor family. There was great appreciation and gratitude. The clothes really are needed and the people are happy to have such beautiful, warm things. Thanks so much for your hard work...!" So again, I thank you for contributing so generously for the people in Nepal. Your efforts are sincerely appreciated.

With that out of the way, I struggle with the status of our humble blog. I still knit a lot, but don't care to think and write in depth about it. I think most agree that knit blogging has run its course, thanks to Ravelry and, to a lesser extent, Flickr. I know that I have said all I have to say about the genius of Elizabeth Zimmerman, or how much I like to knit with handspun yarn. Does anyone need another post about the satisfaction of using your scraps? I don't want to make deep observations about how my knitting is a metaphor for life; I'm happy to just enter notes and modifications into my Ravelry project page. I like knitting, and I do like writing, but I don't much want to write about knitting anymore.

But I cannot bring myself to just abandon the blog. I like that we still have this project together, almost 5 years since I moved away. I like to see the things you knit, and I like having my little space to share the things I make with the readers who have not yet deleted us from their GoogleReaders. So while I cannot bring myself to just quit our blog altogether, I won't be carefully photographing and documenting each pair of socks or mittens that I make anymore. But I did just finish a project that made me want to pull out the P & S and share with my knitting friends. In fact, this project was epic, and I did learn a thing or two as a novice crocheter, some lessons to be shared with the ever-shrinking knitblogging world.

My daughter needed a bedspread, and despite having made a few trips to the Big Box Stores, she did not find anything to her liking. What she wanted, she told me, was "rainbow stripes." I immediately decided that I would crochet her a ripple bedspread, using the crapload of Tahki Cotton Classic that I had hoarded acquired through those irresistible closeout grab bags at Webs.

This seemed like a perfect project; I had the yarn already and crochet was fast, so I would whip up the blanket it no time at all. But in reality, I was making a queen-sized bedspread using dk weight cotton yarn and an F hook. This was insanity. A blanket should be made in a heavier gauge yarn and a bigger hook if you actually want to ever finish it. But what else was I going to do with 30+ skeins of totally unmatched, mostly discontinued colorways of TCC but make a crazy ripple blanket for my little girl who asked for rainbow stripes? Why should I buy blanket-quantities of yarn when I had plenty?

Thus I began this ill-conceived, slightly delusional course of making a Very Large Blanket with Thin Yarn and Small Stitches by choosing Attic 24's excellent ripple pattern after struggling through a few others. As a crochet novice, I don't really know how to properly swatch for a crochet project, so I decided that I would wantonly chain a bunch of stitches, make a few stripes and test the size by laying it across the bed to see if it fit. That plan worked, but in my haste, I failed to consider how much yarn I used in each ripple, and several stripes into the blanket, I actually weighed a skein of leftover yarn and learned that each stripe took about 28 grams of yarn or just OVER a half a skein. I could only get one stripe per skein of yarn. My crapload of yarn would only get me about halfway there.

At that point, I had two choices: buy more yarn, or start over, making a slightly narrower bedspread. I ended up with choice number one and bought more yarn. I bought more TCC and supplemented with Online Clip, which had better yardage for the price (although it was awfully splitty, and I didn't enjoy crocheting with it) and some Elann Sonata leftover from previous projects. And really, in the end, I am glad I kept it generously sized, because the last thing anyone wants is a blanket that is a little too narrow or a little too short.

The blanket took the better part of a year to complete. I started it last Spring, put it away over the summer, and worked on it periodically in the Fall. I decided to focus on it in earnest after the Nepal project was complete, and finished it at the beginning of March. There are 84 ripples, each one took about an hour to complete and I used almost 50 skeins of yarn.

This thing is a stunner. I absolutely love it, and so does my daughter, who got her rainbow stripes. It is perfect for her: colorful, unique and whimsical. As Someone Who Makes Things, I am gratified that my daughter sleeps under something I made just for her, and I do hope she cherishes it for many years, long past the age when she prefers tasteful neutrals over rainbow stripes.

And I am glad we still have this blog hanging around so I could share this little piece of insanity with you.

Two Months Of Update!

Having resolved to Knit Less in 2009 (and blog a lot less -- hello, two months since my last post), most of my knitting projects are short on ambition, but long on satisfaction.  Since my last big project, I made a lot of simple, little projects, all of them gifts, almost all of them from stash.  

Here's the first: one simple yet stinkin' cute sweater for the daughter of my dear friends Andrea and Tanya whom we visited in May in Providence.

This sweater took less than a week to make. A yoked sweater knit in the round in a rich red color, it's all about the simple. But those owls have such an impact! They are adorable without being ducky-bunny twee. It makes a unique statement in a world of boring baby sweaters. The biggest challenge by far was the buttons. Joann's did not have 30 matching buttons, and being a lazy, impatient sort, I did not want to wait for a new shipment, look online, or go to yet another store. The simplest solution, one inspired by Kristy, was to go with different colored eyes, so I simply gave one owl dark blue eyes, while the rest are light blue. It is a quirky, individual design element, which is the Whole Point of Handmade Items, no?

I used one of my very favorite baby yarns, Mission Falls 1824 Wool (machine wash & dry! awesome rich colors! 50% off at my LYS!), and used only 3 skeins despite its total crap yardage. Baby Sami, 6 months old, is growing like gangbusters, so I made her about a one year size so she can be warm and owly this winter in New England.

The next sweater was an impulse knit, for my lovely and adorable baby niece, Lila. She has already received and promptly grown out of her first Aunt Lizzie knit, so it was time for another. Some stashed Cotton-Ease and leftover Katia Jamaica combined into yet another Baby Surprise Jacket, this one about a one-year size as well. San Diego babies need sweaters all year round, so I don't really need to worry about the size, and this jacket just makes me happy to look at. I wasn't a confident or experienced knitter when my daughter was a baby, so I have a feeling that Lila will be the recipient of much knitted cuteness from me.

Remember that meme on Facebook, where you agree to make something for 5 people, and they agree to make the same offer?  Here's the knitted stuff I made for some of my FB friends.

L to R:  Fetching Mitts, Green Thumb Mitts, Crocheted Market Bag

But the crazy has snuck back into the crafty life, with my entire creative time being eaten by the Queen Sized Ripple Blanket of Crochet Insanity.  

I love it.  I lovelovelovelovelovelovelove it.  But it is going to be So.  Big.

I'm using Tahki Cotton Classic and an F hook, and it takes almost 45 minutes to complete one color stripe.  I made a tragic error by making it just a little too wide so that one ripple uses about 28 grams of yarn, leaving me about 3 grams short of a second complete ripple.  And much of the yarn I am using is discontinued TCC colorways bought as Webs grab bags over the years, so there is no supplementing with additional skeins for a lot of the colors.  Which means lots of leftovers.  Gah!  

After a great deal of individual attention, it looks like I'm almost halfway done.  But it's getting big enough to be unwieldy, and it requires too much yarn to take on vacation, so I will be putting down the hook periodically and getting back to the pointy needles as I spend most of the rest of the summer on the road:  Baltimore, Vermont, the Chesapeake, and many, many days down the shore.  

The Proper Response to Gray

I spent an inordinate amount of time this winter knitting with charcoal gray Silky Tweed. It's first pass on the needles was a failed original design, a swingy, drapey open cardigan, intended to be the perfect, light layer for our February family trip to Southern California. This project has been visited before, as a FAIL.
I promptly ripped it, and knit the swingy, drapey, already-designed open cardigan, the Minimalist Cardigan instead. I had previously dismissed it because I thought all that moss stitch would be endlessly, soul-crushingly dull. I was completely right, and in fact, managed to make it even more dull by using that charcoal gray Silky Tweed. I spent months knitting boring moss stitch in dark charcoal gray, wondering why I just wasn't all that into knitting lately. Hmmm.

Rav details here

In the end, it is one of the best sweaters I've knit. The fit is perfect; set-in sleeves are my most flattering shape. That charcoal gray makes it endlessly versatile, and the shape is classic and elegant while being currently quite fashionable. I wear it often, and am glad I suffered through those long months with it because the end result is more than worth it.

But after all those months of gray, there was just one appropriate response: color.

Clockwise from top L: Ballband dishtowel, I Heart You Sweater (a test-knit), Ripples of Insanity, Felicity Hat in Karabella Aurora 8

Call Me Crazy

Is it insane to make a blanket out of sock yarn? I mean, Shelly did it, and so did Deb. So it's definitely possible. Have you seen this one by Birgit? It's amazing. So I've toyed with the idea for a while now. I have a lot of leftover sock yarn, thanks to small feet and short, bug calved legs that require shorter sock legs. And readers of this blog know that I am always looking for ways to use up those leftovers. Using up scraps to make something as useful as a blanket feels so thrifty and resourceful. But it's sort of insane, right? Sock yarn is thin, and even in crochet, it takes a lot of time. But I do have a lot of leftover sock yarn. And I quite like crocheting blankets, lots more than I like miters. I hardly ever get a turn under the other wooly scrap blanket. And now it is cold, and wooly blanket is a necessity.

So, crazy or not, I'm making a Granny Rectangle with my sock yarn leftovers, except that I think I'm running out of yarn, and it's only about 30" x 36" at this point. I'm sticking to the cool colors - the blues, greens, and purples and I don't want to vary the color scheme. So I suppose I'll have to generate some more leftovers: knit up some of the blue/green/purple sock yarn from the stash, and have more leftovers to add to the blanket.

OK. Now that does seem a little crazy. Knitting a project just to generate leftovers?

All That Remains

All that remains of my drawer-full of worsted oddballs and leftovers is these 6 partial balls of yarn. It's some Cascade 220, some Naturewool, a teeny ball of Bartlett's, and a ball of something soft and creamy white, its identity and ball band lost. The crocheted blanket is done.

The original plan for the blanket was to finish every last scrap of the worsted leftover/oddball yarn at least in this certain category of workhorse wool yarns. The idea wasn't about being stash-less, necessarily, but I know that if ever the urge hit to knit something in Cascade 220 or Naturewool, I could just go pick some up. I liked the idea of starting fresh and new, and just getting all of this old yarn used up and cleared out of the drawer.

But I've decided to return these bits to the stash. I value the inspiration that this kind of stash provides. I like having little oddballs to work into charity projects or craft projects for the kids. I know they'll get used eventually. I also like the idea that perhaps when the worsted stash gets to be unwieldy yet again, I'll use these yarns to make another blanket.

I also tried my best to evenly distribute the colors throughout the blanket. I rotated through at least 15 different yarns and about 25 different colors, and at the end of the blanket, I didn't want to repeat so many similar colors so closely. So yes, there was a design choice to be made.

And, yo, the blanket it big enough.

Now, all that remains to do on my blanket is to weave in all these ends.

Dramatic Stash Reduction

My stash lives in our guest room. I have a large dresser full: one drawer for wools, one drawer for cottons, and one mostly of odds and ends and leftovers. There's also an old china cabinet with all the books, sock yarns and other special yarns jammed in there. I keep sweater quantities in the closet, along with lots of other craft supplies. It's been a easy way to keep organized, but this summer we anticipate some longer visits from various family members. And this fall, we'd like to do some remodeling to the master bedroom and bath, so Mr S and I will have to move into the guest room during the duration of the construction.

So this Spring, I have been reorganizing the yarn room, making more room in the closet for our guests and their things, and getting rid of some other, unused things. But as I was working in there the weekend before MSDW, my husband got a full-on view of the stash. He saw all of it. At once. His eyes bugged out in shock, but just for a moment. He didn't say anything except something about my plans to buy more yarn at MDSW the following weekend.

Later, he acknowledged that I do knit a lot. And knitting a lot requires a lot of yarn. He really did understand. He was just surprised that it was that much. I've never hidden any of my purchases from my husband. I stay within the budget, and since he pays the bills every month, he knows how much I spend. And although he didn't get at all angry or even seem annoyed, I realized it was time to really reduce the stash. It has gotten a little unwieldy.

Dramatic stash reduction was called for. I not only had to make room for my guests, but I had to prove to my generous and understanding husband that I really did intend on using all of that yarn, that my abundance had a purpose. There was only one thing to do: crochet a huge scrapghan. Being a crochet project, it would use up a ton of yarn, clearing a lot of space in the yarn dresser, and it would create a useful item for the whole family.

I cleared out all of the worsted-ish woolen leftovers, singletons, or random yarns bought for unrealized projects from the wool drawer. I stuck them in the basket and began Bella Dia's Vintage Vertical Stripe Blanket.

Week One: 27 rows

I have been crocheting at a feverish pace for two weeks, and currently have 56 rows of double crochet, or a blanket about 70" long x 20 " wide. The rows are long but simple, as this pattern has you crochet into the space created by the row below, instead of having to insert your hook into the V's of another stitch. As a crochet beginner, it is a great project. I'm trying to crank out as much as I can while I am still enthusiastic about the blanket and before the weather gets too hot to have a huge wool blanket on my lap.

Week 2: 56 rows

I'm still working of different knitting projects as well, all from stash. But for now, it's all about cranking out those long double crochet rows and using up all this yarn.

XRK: Today, with Crochet!

We've needed some new throws and blankets around here for a while now, and I have been fully convinced that crocheting an afghan is for sure the way to go. I spend lots of time on Ravelry looking at different ones, and imagine the amazing crocheted afghans I could make. Sally tells me that crocheting is much faster than knitting, and considering the speed with which she cranks out B.A.G.S. afghans, I am apt to believe it. But Sally is primarily a crocheter who knits.

I am knitter who has extremely rudimentary crochet skills, ones useful for a knitter. I've never actually made a crocheted project. I've never followed a crochet pattern, and only know the single crochet. So while I am obsessed with ripples and Babettes, I'm just not convinced that it would be faster for me, given that I would have to learn how to crochet before I could actually begin.

My sister, the World's Most Deserving of the Handknits, recently requested something Spring-y, to go with her new Spring tote. A little flair, and little green, a little scarf-ish accessory to brighten up an otherwise mostly neutral wardrobe. Enter the perfect excuse to practice my crochet skills, and to test my afghan hypothesis: is crochet really faster than knitting, even when you don't really know how to crochet?

In a word? Yes.

Knitters know that scarves can be a slog, but I cranked out this scarf in less than a week, and that's with some serious ripping after a too-tight chain row caused the scarf to twist and ruffle. I used the Stripes and Stripes Forever (Rav link) pattern from the Happy Hooker, but if you know how to single crochet and have a few skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic lying around, you could make this scarf without a pattern.

My tension is still not great, I have no idea how to properly finish, I lose and gain stitches easily, but in all, a fine first effort. Only about a zillion more rows, and I would have made a great afghan!