I Am Not In Denial

I cast on a hat today.  I sped through the knitting of Ptarmigan because my sister insisted that I continue knitting my "wrist warmers" (quotation marks used to emphasize the disaster that they are), which use the same needles.  The same needles which I stole from the blanket I'm still knitting for my brother (but let's not talk about that).

Those needles are now occupied with a hat, most likely fueled by the guilt I feel about my Ptarmigan friend.  A neckwarmer is not enough.  I hat is definitely needed, and the sooner the better.

I'm in such a hurry, in fact, that I convinced myself that finding, purchasing, downloading, and deciphering a pattern would simply take far too much time and the only rational thing to do in this situation is to design the hat on the fly.

"On the fly" started last light as I pored over knitting pattern books and old magazines trying to find what I was looking for.  My criteria were minimal and, well, vague.  I thought things like "warm" and "nice".

I then decided I didn't need to find a pattern yet because before I could begin knitting in pattern I have to knit at least four if not six inches of 2x2 ribbing.  I like 2x2 ribbing and I think that a person living in a cold climate can greatly benefit from a hat with a brim that folds up to form a double-layer of warmth.  It's a practical thing and I stand by my choice.

I have a friend in town audition at my school and while I was sitting in the waiting room, I cast on for this hat.  An argument ensued about whether or not this hat is going to fit the recipient.  I believe it will.  Here are my reasons.

1. Knitting is stretchy
2. Ribbing is stretchier
3. This friend might have a small head

Her reasons are unsupportable things such as "that looks small" and "knitting doesn't stretch that much".

While knitting this bit of ribbing another friend walked past and asked what I was making.  When I told her that I was making a warm, nice hat with a folded-up brim for a friend, her first reaction was "I hope your friend has a small head!"

Clearly these people don't understand.  This hat is most definitely going to fit my friend's head.  Knitted ribbing is extremely stretch and my friend very well may have a small head.  I know the knitting looks a bit small, but it'll grow.  There's no point in ripping it out now before I can prove to them their error.  I should continue to knit until I have at least six inches just so I have ample fabric with which to prove them all wrong.

This hat is clearly going to fit.  I cast on more than enough stitches and even though it looks small, it will grow once stretched around my friend's head.  I am not in denial.  The knitting will continue and this hat will be fantastic.  There's no way it's too small.

Yes, I Really Want It

I managed to snap some photos of the Westward hat I made out of Malabrigo Twist today.  It was decided upon completion that the color combination was too feminine for myself or for The Composer, so I handed it off to someone I knew would appreciate it.

What she won't appreciate is that I've posted this picture of her on the internet.  What she will appreciate is that I chose this one and not one of the others...

...because there were others.

I finished up my Blue Whale last week as well and wore it for the first time today.

 

I pinned it out quite quickly, but it's going to be scrunched around a neck when in use anyway, so I wasn't too picky.

I love the colors in this yarn, and the 25% silk gives it a nice sheen and drape.  The nature of the stitches in the scarf also makes it completely reversible, so I don't have to bother checking which side is the right side before putting it on (but I do anyway because I'm like that).

I took several pictures of myself wearing it, but unlike my friend in the Westward, I am able to veto the inclusion of those on my own blog, so the above are all you get.

Moving right along, I decided to do something about my cold hands instead of simply sit on my couch every day wishing that I had a warm pair of fingerless gloves.  Am I the only one who does this?  I think of all the wonderful things that would make my life more comfortable, but I never quite kick my arse into doing them.  Mainly because I don't think of knitting wrist warmers when I have time, I think of doing it when I'm cold and normally I'm cold when I'm studying or climbing into bed or something.  Well, one day I was cold AND had time, so I scrounged around for a bit.

I found several small leftover balls of Noro Kureyon in a drawer and decided the best approach would be to spit join them together and go to town with some striping.  It's times like these that I am glad I'm colorblind.

I don't know why I'm still entertaining the idea that this will become a pair of wrist warmers some day.  The worst of the colors have yet to come and that photo is not playing tricks on your eyes.  That sickly tube of stripes really does get smaller towards the top and no, there's no reason for it.  I think it's Knitting's way of telling me that this project should not continue.  This is a fact that I should have accepted ten inches ago when I tried it on and found it was two inches too big.  I knit on with complete faith that when I'm done it will be the right size.  Oh, and did I tell you my plan?   Here it is: knit one long tube of stripes with ribbing at both ends, then cut it in half, put some more ribbing on the cut ends, then cut holes somewhere for thumbs to be put on.  Knitting two separate wrist warmers would have just been too difficult.  No, this project is doomed to fail.

Besides, I stole the needles to knit something much more wonderful.

I was in desperate need of a visit to the yarn shop.  I took The Composer with me and before we got there I told him that he was not allowed to let me buy anything I didn't really want.  In order for him to know if I really wanted it, he was required to ask me.  It went something like this.

Me:  Ooh!  Look at this yarn!
Him: That's nice.
Me:  It's beautiful!
Him: Peter, you're caressing that yarn a little too excitedly.
Me: I'm going to get it.
Him: Do you really want it?
Me: Of course!

...ten minutes later...

Me: Ooh!  Look at this yarn!
Him: That's nice.
Me: Ooh, and this one, too!  And this one!  I want them all.
Him: Do you really want it?
Me: Yes!   Would you quit asking me that?

...five minutes later...

Me: Hey!  Look at this!
Him: Do you really want it?
Me: YES!  For the last time, yes, I want it.  Why do you keep asking me if I want the yarn?  Can't you tell that I want it?!

I think I should have told him to ask me if I needed the yarn.  Then his questions might have had more influence.  Apologies to The Composer for a brief outburst about his questioning me (I felt like I was under oath or something!).  I blame it on the wool fumes.  You'll understand one day.

I cast on that Alpaca Silk immediately to make Ptarmigan for a friend.

 

There's more of a story behind it, but I can't share it all right now.  Just know that I am responsible and should do better next time.  That's how life works, right?

That's what these are for, too.

 

and I'm knitting socks.  What is this world coming to?

Accessories

I do this weird thing over on Ravelry in which I don't actually call a project "finished" until I've taken pictures of the completed object.  Right now I have 8 projects that are "100% completed", but not "finished" because they haven't been photographed.

I'm trying to fix that.

(and I'm trying to distract you so you won't notice that I haven't woven in the ends on my Autumn Arbor Stole yet...)

I'm not a hat wearer.  I just don't think I look good in hats and I'm not a big fan of hat hair.  But my ears have been cold this winter.  I'm starting to simply accept the functionality of a hat in my battle with winter weather and I've discovered something.

Hats keep you warm.

This hat is Quincy from Jared Flood's Made in Brooklyn booklet.  I knit mine last May using Cascade 220 doubled and it turned out wonderfully.

 

I think the fiddly-est part about this hat was trying to figure out how to wear it!  The only problem with the way I'm wearing it above is that it limits visibility and, well, one of my ears is still cold.  I still wear this hat most frequently, though.

Back in August when I moved to Pittsburgh, I was in a strange place with my knitting.  I wasn't blogging, I didn't want to document projects on Ravelry, and I didn't want to use patterns.  I wanted to knit from my stash and create practical items that still maintained a bit of personality.  You know, like back when knitting wasn't just a hobby.

I made another hat, again using Cascade 220 (the main color is the same yarn I used for Quincy).

(As an aside, that apartment building behind me is where Mr. Rogers lived.  Yes, THE Mr. Rogers.  I'm totally in his neighborhood...)

I threw in some 2-color horizontal braids I borrowed from Folk Knitting in Estonia and the stranded pattern came from the cuff of a mitten in Sata Kansanomaista Kuviokudinmallia.  (Nope, no idea what that means).  I chose that design because it reminded me of a lot of motifs I saw in Bali.

The hat is lined up to the second braid with the main color, which makes it extra thick and warm.  I added a tassel because I thought it needed one.  I even slipped a little piece of fabric between the lining and the outside before closing it up so that in 100 years when the lining wears out and someone is studying this hat, they'll know that I made it in Pittsburgh in August of 2010 at the age of 22.

Because my knitting will be studied in 100 years.

::rolls eyes::

Then I decided that I needed a pair of mittens to match my coat.  This was the plan:  Knit an outer shell out of Cascade 220 (notice a trend?) on tiny needles (I don't know what size because I was still on my "no documentation" kick) to make them tough as iron.  Then I would line the mittens with alpaca to make them super soft and warm.

Well, I knit the shells over the summer and lined half of one of the mittens.  The lining was too big, it made the thumb too constricted, and the alpaca wasn't as soft as I had hoped.

I finally ripped out that lining, picked up the stitches from the provisional cast-ons, bound them off, and called the mittens done.

They match my coat, however they don't actually keep my hands very warm.  A worsted spun yarn knit at a dense gauge does create a pretty solid fabric, but the fabric itself doesn't really hold much warmth because the worsted spinning and tight knitting sort of squeezes any air out of the yarn that would otherwise be warm and insulating.  That's my theory, anyway.  My other theory is that because my hands are always freezing, there's no warmth to trap inside the mitten to begin with.

I was clearly still into making sure that future generations will know exactly who wore these mittens, and when.  They need to be lined though.  Against my hopes, they're just not warm enough without it.  I have some light blue malabrigo lace that I just remembered about last night that I could use held doubled for the hand and single for the thumb (so it doesn't become too tight).  That might work.

...if I ever get around to it.

Blue And Green - No Surprise

A very strange thing happened to me the other day.

I sat down in my floral couch (it's no secret anymore.  I can't even pretend it's anything but floral) and when I looked in my knitting basket, my Autumn Arbor Stole wasn't there.

For the past 19 months, that shawl has kept my knitting basket company.  But you guys, it's done.  I don't think my size 6 needles have ever been so relieved, but I was sort of at a loss about what to do.

 

I'll do a proper post once I take more pictures, but it does feel good to have that piece finished.

Now, I felt the need to start another lace project immediately, because it's not right to not have one of those on the needles at all times, right?

I have the yarn to start one of the patterns from Knitted Lace of Estonia, but I didn't feel like committing myself to such a long-term project.  I have that MadTosh lace that I posted about a couple posts back, but I'm still debating which pattern to use it for.

I was reading on one of Tina's blogs* about a designer I hadn't heard of before, and I loved some of her designs.  I even have some nice fingering-weight yarn that would work.

But then late one night I needed to start something immediately.  Do you ever get that way?  I just wanted to wind some yarn and cast on so badly.  I searched my apartment for the perfect indulgence and found myself happily knitting none of the above.

It's not even lace!  But it's just what I needed.  This is Stephen West's Blue Whale pattern, available only through A Verb For Keeping Warm's Pro-Verbial Club (or through a knitting sister in the club willing to part with the yarn and pattern) using their Luster yarn - 75% BFL, 25% silk.

Ooh, Ravelry tells me that the yarn what created especially for the club as well.

It does have a nice shine to it, and I'm excited to get further along in this pattern.

 

I finished my Westward hat about two weeks ago now, but I forgot to take a picture before giving it away.  The teal and black together looked too feminine - you'll see if I ever remember to snap a picture.

*On an unrelated note, I just wanted to put the word out that Tina is currently trying to raise some funds for a friend in need.  You can stop by her other blog to read about what's going on and if you feel compelled to donate, I know she would be incredibly grateful.

The Birth of a Knitter

This past week I had the honor of introducing a muggle to the magical world of Knitting.  And not just any muggle, but my boyfriend the muggle (henceforth referred to as "The Composer").

He had previously accompanied me to a yarn shop and experienced first-hand the wonders of an LYS.  Hearing exclamations such as, "I just want to knit SO BADLY!" and listening to an entire store full of customers putting in their two cents about the February Lady Sweater in the commemorative edition of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac (I was explaining to him the importance of Elizabeth Zimmermann in our world), he seemed entirely enthralled.  There was also the wonder and awe that only a ball winder can bring to a muggle.  (What is it about guys and their fascination with those?  It must just be a gadget thing.)

He then asked me to teach him how to knit.  (!!!!!!!!!!)

I even let him use my ball winder.

 

The picture is blurry because he was having too much fun.

I taught him how to cast on and how to do the knit stitch.

I knew that he was hooked, but I don't think he realized it yet.

 

And yes, I do have a floral couch decorated with knitted and crocheted blankets.  You all knew I was an old lady at 23, right?

And look, progress!  I should tell you - that night he stayed up until 2am knitting on that swatch and I very distinctly heard him say "Just one more row..." several times.  We all know what that means, right?

The next day, I found this sitting on the table at school:

Yep, he already brings his knitting with him everywhere and takes great pride in showing it to everyone who happens to walk by.  He's doing a good job, isn't he?!  He (well, I) bound off that swatch and called it a potholder only to cast on for his first scarf during class this past Tuesday.

Yep, knitting in class.  He's hooked.

And that's how yet another cute male knitter was born.

Minor Stash Enhancement

Thank you everyone for such a warm welcome back to the blogging world!  I've really missed being here and I'm going to try to keep it up as much as I can now that a new semester is about to start.

Before driving back to Pittsburgh I had to stop one last time at The Yarnery, one of Minnesota's finest yarn shops.  (That's not an opinion, it's a fact).

I was a bit frantic when I arrived and started simply pulling skeins off the shelves left and right.  I walked in the door, grabbed the latest Vogue Knitting (I really like the Men's Fair Isle Cardigan as part of the "Chalet Chic" collection) and then continued to snatch things up that I had no use for.

Normally I buy yarn strictly on an "as needed" basis and was therefore quite appalled by my behavior.  I believe the fact that I was drawn to buy yarn simply because I wanted it means that the knitting bug has come back at full force.  I managed to resist most of the yarn piling up in my arms in the end, but I did go home with two skeins.

 

The first was a skein of Malabrigo Twist in the 'Teal Feather' colorway.  I have absolutely no idea why I bought it.  Heck, I'm still not convinced that "teal" is even a color!  But when I saw this yarn, there was no hesitation.

When I got home I remembered that I have a skein of Twist in black that I bought many moons ago and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they would be very happy together.

My plan is to knit them up into Stephen West's Westward Hat from Westknits Book 1.  Ooh, you know what'd be sweet?  It would be awesome if I could get two hats out of these skeins and reverse the colors.  I'll have to see once the first hat is finished.

The second skein I bought was Madelinetosh Tosh Lace.

The 'Tart' colorway jumped out at me as soon as I walked in the door.  I've never knit with Madtosh before and although the color is gorgeous, the yarn definitely has that superwash-y feel to it.  With only 950 yards, I haven't picked a pattern yet.  Any suggestions?  I'm thinking I may even try to design my own, but that could end in disaster and I don't have much time these days to sit around and sketch things out.

It's very pretty though, no?

Past, Present, and Future

For three months this blog has gone untouched.  I had all but removed myself from the knitting community altogether for a while, but the other day I decided that it might be time to return.  I may not knit much anymore, but I miss the blog and the enjoyment I used to get from it.

I haven't been documenting my projects on Ravelry, either.  Hats, scarves, legwarmers, socks... they've come and gone without notice.  I actually felt a bit liberated that way - no pressure to record, to document, to display anything I was doing.  It became my own personal pastime, but now I think I'm ready to return.  I'm just going to cut my losses and start from where I am right now.

From the past we have some lace:

 

Yes, that's right, I'm still working on my Autumn Arbor Stole.  It's almost done, though.  Just a couple more repeats of the pattern and I can call it quits.

It'll block out beautifully, I can tell.  It's interesting to see where my tension has changed as I've knit on this piece.  I know my tension has changed because after months of not working on it, the colors started to pool differently.  I wonder how it'll look once it's finished.

I also finally got around to blocking my Aeolian Shawl.

 

I do believe it blocked out amazingly and knit in cashmere it is the most decadent thing I have ever made.  The yarn, Handmaiden Cashmere 2-ply (or something like that), was a gift from Joan and I can't thank her enough.

 

The tonal variations in the yarn are subtle, but beautiful.  Now I just need to figure out what to do with this shawl.  It seems a shame to keep it folded up in my closet.

 

Presently I am working on a scarf all for me.  For my birthday my mother sent me some of Brooklyn Tweed's greatly coveted Shelter yarn in the Button Jar colorway along with the pattern for Dryad.  A more perfect pair couldn't have been made.

 

The stitch definition this yarn offers is spectacular and I can't wait to see how it blooms once I wash the scarf.  I'm giddy with excitement knowing that this scarf is all for me.

 

Sometimes we just have to be selfish.

It appears I'll have a selfish future as well, with projects planned to use up more yarn given as gifts.

For my birthday, Sister No. 4 presented me with a pattern kit from A Verb for Keeping Warm's club.  Beautiful yarn in my favorite colors along with an exclusive Stephen West pattern.  Really, my life couldn't get any better.

Just look at that beautiful yarn!  I can't wait to get this project on my needles.

And last, but definitely not least, I have an armful of Malabrigo from Sister No. 2 with which I intend to make the most perfect sweater ever.

The trouble is, it appears that the pattern for "the most perfect sweater ever" doesn't exist and I fear I will have to attempt to make it on my own.  I'd be planning that all right now, but my stitch dictionaries and such are back in Pittsburgh and I'm here in Minnesota for winter break.

 

But just thinking of the possibilities amuses me to no end.

and with that I bid you all adieu until next time, which I hope will be sooner than three months from now.

Warm wishes and a Happy New Year to you all!