January 2007

And here’s a yellow one:

Pattern: own: k3 p3 rib on a multiple of 6 minus 1 stitch so the rib spirals
Yarn: 1 skein Cascade 220, 100% wool
Needles: size 5
Size: 14″, about 4-8 years

My hands are tired…

Hat #2 is finished (and I swear it’s not the same hat as yesterday):

Pattern: own: k3 p3 rib on a multiple of 6 minus 1 stitch so the rib spirals
Yarn: 1 skein Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Superwash, 100% superwash wool
Needles: size 5
Size: 14″, about 4-8 years, but which equals less than preemie size according to standard patterns**

This design reminds me a bit of a circus tent, one with diagonal stripes on the sides and a pointy top, so I will make all 3 hats the same way. The bright yellow one is on the needles already but I doubt I’ll finish it tomorrow.

** Huh? Less than preemie size? What is it with hat patterns? The ladies in my group and I measured our heads tonight (so very wild and crazy…) and we ranged from 20″ to 23″ around. Everyone’s head could comfortably wear the hat I finished yesterday and it was 18″, which is supposed to fit kids from 6 to 18 months old. While with these hats I am not using a printed pattern, and I usually don’t with hats, I do depend upon published size standards to help me calculate the number of stitches to cast on. The first bunch of hats I ever made were ludicrously oversized for the recipients since I made them to fit the head measurement. This means they sat unsatisfyingly loosely on the head. The hat patterns I’ve found don’t seem to take into account the inherent stretchiness of a knitted fabric. You absolutely need a few inches less in circumference so a hat can hug the head. OK, rant over.

In spinning news, we received the carrying case for the Lendrum wheel today, meaning we could spin in Golden Gate Park if we wanted to. Naw, I’ve made the mistake of spinning in the wind before and the result is too much cursing for a public demonstration. I’d make passersby doubt how much fun spinning can be.

Also, the mother of the boy for whom I knitted the little blue sweater received it in the mail today and left me a message: the style and color fit the bill and he has a bit of time to grow into it. Whew!

I forgot how quickly hats work up. I cast this one on last night while we were watching a movie and thought I might finish it on the bus tomorrow or the next day. But hat #1 is already finished:

Pattern: own: k3 p3 rib on a multiple of 6 minus 1 stitch so the rib spirals
Yarn: 1 skein Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky, 85% wool, 15% mohair
Needles: size 8
Size: 18″ = 4 years to small adult

Why so bright? The afghans for Afghans project is requesting 400 knitted or crocheted wool hats in primary yellow, blue, or red, and in bright green for the Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children. The hats are to be for children ages 4 through 18 and are due February 28. These are the colors requested by the MMCC, that’s why so bright. Yesterday I found 3 balls of yarn in the stash that meet these criteria and I will try to crank out 2 more before the deadline. Yeah, size 8 needles are kind of small for this yarn, but they specifically requested dense knits so the hats are extra warm.

Here is the baby sweater I finished knitting back on January 2. I then took a few weeks (not surprising; I’m a knitter, not a seamstress) to tuck in the ends and to buy buttons and sew them on. This is a gift for a friend who had a baby boy a few months ago. When I made my “fishing for information” phone call to her, she mentioned she prefers to dress her child in pastel blues. This yarn fit the bill and the few shots of darker blue and aqua kept it more interesting for me than a plain solid. She should get it Monday:

Pattern: own, with the help of Sweater Wizard
Yarn: 2 1/4 skeins Filatura di Crosa Baby Zarina, 100% machine washable wool
Needles: size 5
Size: 1 year

I did not block the Icarus Shawl yet, so no photo today.

Binding off this project was slow going, but so very satisfying. Oh, look, another amorphous blue blob (well, half a blob since I had to fold it to get it in the picture):

And a blurry close-up of the bumpy texture of the reverse, which will look less nipple-studded after blocking:

I hope to block this weekend so you’ll see it in all its glory soon.

Well, not literally. But the new Lendrum spins a heck of a lot better than the old Ashford, so we’re both spinning away at a surprising rate.

We took my old Ashford Traditional to the local spinning shop yesterday for more troubleshooting. They had a new Ashford there so we tried that wheel in my frame. It turns out that while the wheel itself was not balanced quite right because of how I glued the spokes, the frame has some other problem that causes the major wobble. It’s been cranky for a while, only spinning full revolutions when the stars were aligned quite right.

I have had it for about 10 years, paid a good price for it, and it has given me a lot of good spinning time. Here it is:

I have a spinning friend who might know someone who likes old, temperamental wheels, so I’m going to see if I can find it a good home with someone who knows what he or she is doing. If you are interested please leave a note including your email address in the comments and I’ll get back to you. It will come with a threading hook, 4 bobbins, and a kate.

And here is our new friend, the Lendrum folding wheel:

I spun a bobbin of singles last night and my husband plied this morning. He’s spinning some orange pygora goat fiber as I type. There has been a decided lack of cursing in the house since we started working with this wheel! It has a very smooth motion and I am looking forward to spinning some very fine yarns with the fast flyer head. It makes a huge difference to not be fighting with equipment every step of the way.

In other news, I had run out of yarn for my Icarus Shawl and the shop where I bought it had no more in my colorway (!), but my wonderfully helpful husband phoned around to shops yesterday and found me some. This means I had plenty of time this week to finish a few projects:

Pattern: own
Yarn: 1 skein Fearless Fibers 100% superwash merino in the Peppermint Pink colorway
Needles: size 1 double-points
I used reinforcement thread on the heels and toes

Pattern: “Marabou Felted Purse” by Sweaterkits
Yarn: 3 skeins Merino/Alpaca Super Soft Yarn, 60% merino wool, 40% superfine alpaca
Needles: size 10 for body, size 9 for strap

This is much more froofy and fluffy than what I normally would carry but I like it a lot. I added a bit of elastic and the fancy button so the bag could be closed.

Pattern: own (5 rows garter stitch, one row knit 1 yarn over 2)
Yarn: 1 skein Idena Mega, 100% nylon
Needles: size 9

This is an example of typical bus knitting, something mindless and easily interruptible to do on the bus.

I also finally finished the baby sweater I mentioned on January 2, but it’s blocking and not dry yet so I can’t show a photo.

I picked up more yarn for Icarus yesterday, so off I go to do the last 8 rows.

Icarus continues. The border requires a bit more concentration than the simple pattern in the main body of the shawl, but it’s still easy to memorize the repeats as I work a row. Despite this, progress on Icarus is much slower now for several reasons. This is of course the catch when working a shawl that casts on with a few stitches and expands: you start out enthusiastically cruising along at Indy 500 speed but after a few inches realize you are practically parked in the current inch. Contributing to the snail’s pace is that I:

1) purl more slowly than I knit — wrong side is purled except for the first and last two stitches of the wrong side rows, and

2) work faster on circulars — I mislaid my size 4 circulars (or perhaps they’re stuck in some other WIP…) so I am stuck using straight needles for this entire project.

It’s so squished up on the needles now that I can’t even tell anymore what it will look like and it keeps threatening to pop off the ends as I complete a row. With any luck I’ll be blocking by the weekend.

Well, the spinning wheel is out of commission again. The spokes I glued just two weeks ago came loose Saturday while I was trying to ply. Loose spokes thump up and down as the wheel spins, throwing off its balance so it stops at nearly every revolution. I glued the spokes and let them dry overnight. Sunday I tried to continue plying but the wheel is still out of balance. The spokes apparently weren’t precisely centered in position when I finished gluing them. I plied anyway, but it was certainly an exercise in frustration as I was pedaling for dear life to keep the thing going and constantly having to start it going again with my hand. So no spinning today.

Since I can’t keep showing the same amorphous blue blob of an Icarus Shawl in progress (which, by the way, is almost ready for its border) to my minuscule audience (I think just my husband at this point), here is a shot of this week’s bus knitting:

This is bus knitting from last week and the week before the holiday:

These are now both home projects since there aren’t enough rows left to take them on one more ride. Which means, of course, that I need to come up with something to knit for next week. Socks again? Perhaps a hat? Hmmm.

And here is some more finishing work that has been sitting around:

The little blue shape in the plastic bag is a baby sweater for a friend’s son that just needs its buttons and the green feathers are the trim on something else, photo to come in the future once I’ve finished it.

I also spun two bobbins of singles this week that I will be plying tomorrow or Sunday.  Spinning is lots more fun now that my wheel is back in order. It was practically on its last legs just two weeks ago but thanks to my husband’s keen eye that found its loose spokes and the new drive band he made for me it’s back in business. And he is now spinning on it, too!  

I have added a bit more and it’s coming along nicely. The rows are getting longer quickly as the pattern adds 4 stitches every two rows so progress has slowed. I really like how it looks. It has gotten so wide that I have to bunch it up on the needles so it’s hard to get a nice photo, but it is much bigger now:

Brief and opinionated review of Norsk Strikkedesign by Margaretha Finseth, which went back to the library the other night: I really liked the colorwork patterns. I especially liked the “Foolish Virgins” design. It appealed to me more than Kaffe Fassett’s version of the design simply because I avoid intarsia work when possible. Many of the sweaters, however, started off with a chest measurement that is far too wide for me and I did not have enough time with the book to figure whether substituting a thinner yarn could produce a width I can wear. Reacalculating with a different stitch count probably would have ruined how pretty the designs were.

On New Year’s Eve I sipped my version of Kir Royale (raspberry wine with champagne), watched the various festivities and fireworks on TV, and worked on finishing a small baby sweater I started some 10 days ago. But what better way to start off a new year than with a new project, so I set the baby sweater aside and started a shawl New Year’s Day.

I have had my eye on the Icarus Shawl (Interweave Knits, Summer 2006) since that issue arrived in my mailbox. Yesterday I finally cast on with some Crystal Palace Yarns Kid Merino I bought a while back.

Here is last night’s progress: 

I intended to make a shawl with the Kid Merino when I bought it, but I made the mistake before of using a yarn that interrupted a lace pattern. The colors in this yarn are more variegated than the photo here shows  but they are subtle enough to work. When I made the Flower Basket Shawl I used two different colors of the Misti Alpaca held together and the pattern is a little hard to see. For Charlotte’s Web, I picked out the 5 skeins in different colorways the pattern recommends but the result was not so pretty. The lace pattern virutally disappeared so Ms. Charlotte traveled to the frog pond before I got to the border. The good news is I now have 5 skeins of Koigu awaiting other projects. It looks like a good weight for mittens or gloves. I have my eye on mittens, especially Eunny’s Anemoi Mittens.

Off I go to try to add another couple of inches before it’s time to hit the sack!